The South African was named as Robin Frijns' replacement at the Abt team for the foreseeable future while the Dutchman recovers from his hand and wrist fractures sustained in a collision with Norman Nato in Mexico.
Although DTM race winner van der Linde spent time in the simulator preparing for his first race in Formula E, he only had two practice sessions in the real car ahead of qualifying for the opener in Saudi Arabia's double-header.
