In the season finale of the Audi Sport TT Cup, Sheldon van der Linde, on coming in third place, celebrated his eighth podium finish in the 14th race. In the overall classification, he ranks in position four and in the rookies’ classification in position two. “Following my great start of the season with two victories, I’d been hoping for a little more with respect to how it would end. In 2017, I’d like to achieve the goals I didn’t reach this year,” said the 17-year-old, who had mounted the top of the podium in four of his eight podium finishes.
“The first race was a very tough one. But I was happy about improving from position nine on the grid to P3. I stood my ground in a pack of six cars and fought numerous duels. My race pace was so good that I was able to start overtaking maneuvers at the right time. In race two, I improved from P7 to fourth place – that was the maximum.”
The driver of the weekend was Joonas Lappalainen. In race one, he celebrated a lights-to-flag victory, trailed by Nielsen and Sheldon van der Linde. The second race was won by Dennis Marschall, trailed by Nielsen and Lappalainen. The Finn was determined as the new title winner in the Audi Sport TT Cup. The 18-year-old, with 282 points, is in the top spot with a dominant advantage. Dennis Marschall (269 points) has finished the season as the overall runner-up, trailed by Nicklas Nielsen with 238 points. The Dane celebrated victory in the rookies’ classification. Van der Linde ended the season with 231 points in position four. – Audi Sport
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