South African van der Linde pipped Mercedes driver Lucas Auer and Rast's Abt Audi to his first DTM crown last season, in a successful maiden campaign for the new BMW M4 GT3 and series newcomer Schubert, but the championship's future was then plunged into doubt when Gerhard Berger's ITR group sold rights for the series to rival German promoter the ADAC.
After some uncertainty, the ADAC announced it would continue to run the DTM as a sprint series for single drivers alongside its existing ADAC GT Masters platform for two driver crews, enabling DTM teams to press on with plans for 2023.
