Crowdstrike by APR back to peak form thanks to Rolex, Asian Le Mans wins

Now that the weight of years of Rolex 24 At Daytona disappointment was finally lifted with a race win, it seems like Algarve Pro Racing and CrowdStrike Racing are back to peak form.

And it seems like George Kurtz may not lose many more motor races again. Immediately after winning LMP2 at this year’s Rolex 24, Kurtz and Algarve Pro Racing went on to win three of the final four Asian Le Mans Series races on the way to the LMP2 championship and a guaranteed entry into this year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Then, as the new co-owner of the Mercedes-AMG Formula One Team, Kurtz got to see George Russell and Kimi Antonelli win each of the first two rounds of the F1 season.

Thinking back to Daytona, Kurtz told RACER, “When you think about Daytona, it’s not a race you win: It’s a race that you don’t lose. And we’ve come so close for many years.

“I think what we did is we made sure that we got the car to the end. We had a great car from the start. It was safe and sound at the end, when we were fighting. And we really didn’t make a lot of mistakes.”

It all could have gone so disastrously wrong at the start of course, given that Kurtz was one of four LMP2 drivers caught up in a first-lap, first-corner accident that wiped the other three belligerents out of contention for a strong result. “The start was more exciting than I would have hoped for,” he admitted, “but once we got past that, I think everybody settled in and just executed. And I think the execution across the team and drivers is really what helped us win.”

2025 was a disappointing season on many fronts for CrowdStrike Racing by APR, whose No. 04 ORECA 07-Gibson LMP2 only managed one podium finish in seven races. Toby Sowery, returning in his role as the Silver-rated Michelin Endurance Cup specialist, felt that the team didn’t have to change much to find its way back to winning form.

“We all felt pretty much the same within the team; I think what we've done is refine things a little bit more, rather than change a lot,” Sowery said. “We’ve always had the pace, we've always had the car, we've always had the strategy. It's just, a few mistakes, a few hiccups here and there, really kind of cost us in critical times. It's something that we've always been quite frustrated about, because we've always had the capability to win races and potentially be in the championship hunt. But it just hasn't really kind of lent itself to us.

“This year, I think, we've taken a very similar approach,” Sowery continued, “But just with a slightly more refined and, perhaps, disciplined approach just to really kind of anchor things down to what's important and what the priorities are.”

There’s only been one change in the cockpit on the IMSA side, with Alex Quinn jumping into the role of the full-season Pro driver in place of Malthe Jakobsen. Quinn already showed the poise to pick up where Jakobsen left off: The young Englishman was brilliant at Daytona, and he will be part of CrowdStrike Racing’s return to Le Mans in June.

“He’s been spectacular,” Kurtz says of Quinn. “He’s super fast in traffic. I think he’s been great on risk management. And just overall, he’s a real talent that’s been a pleasure to work with. He certainly has helped me in my driving; he’s slotted right into the team, and will be a big part of our success this year.”

The infamous CrowdStrike outage of July 2024 forced Kurtz to step away from motorsports, understandably so, and tend to the business side, repairing the trust between his enterprise and its many clients. By 2025, with the saga in the rear view, Kurtz decided to resume his racing activities in earnest, but it looked difficult from the surface, with a wave of new, quick Bronze drivers like PJ Hyett, Dan Goldburg, and Jeremy Clarke hitting the scene.

“You have to get yourself into a headspace and really just think about about executing, race-by-race,” Kurtz said. “It’s almost one lap at a time, one race at a time. And we did that.”

On the struggles of last season, he continued, “It was, I would say, difficult last year. We had a lot of opportunities to win. Sebring was one of them; unfortunately, in the last ten minutes, we had some issues and we didn’t come out with the win, which was super disappointing. That’s why we’re hoping to redeem ourselves here.

“But I think once you get back in the seat, you’ve just got to focus. Do the best you can, and be the best you can that day, and hand the car off in good shape for your teammates.”