CrowdStrike Racing by APR will welcome back INDY NXT graduate Toby Sowery for the remaining 2024 IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup rounds, starting with the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Presented by Cadillac (13-16 March).
Sowery, aged 27 from Cambridgeshire in the UK, will team with CrowdStrike Racing regulars George Kurtz and Colin Braun in the #04 ORECA 07-Gibson LMP2 prototype at Florida’s Sebring International Raceway.
A newcomer to endurance sportscar racing, Sowery has acquitted himself brilliantly since joining Algarve Pro Racing’s ranks in the 2023-24 Asian Le Mans Series, the British racer rounding out his maiden LMP2 campaign with a dominant victory in the 4 Hours of Abu Dhabi at Yas Marina Circuit (10-11 February),
However, he also made his 24-hour race debut as one quarter of CrowdStrike Racing by APR’s Rolex 24 at Daytona (24-28 January) roster.
The defending IMEC Teams Champion opened its 2024 account with a second-place finish in the IMSA curtain-raiser but accumulated 13 Michelin Endurance Cup points – the most of any LMP2 team – by leading at the critical six and 18-hour junctures.
Sowery impressed with his speed, consistency and professionalism, and he has subsequently been invited to re-join Kurtz and Braun for the next instalments of the IMSA season at Sebring, Watkins Glen, Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta, where the team’s task will be to preserve its early lead and defend the IMEC title it won in 2023.
Toby Sowery (#04 CrowdStrike Racing by APR ORECA 07-Gibson LMP2): “I’m super excited to be back with CrowdStrike Racing by APR for the 2024 IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup. I’ve spent a lot of time with the team over winter and we have really gelled. After the Rolex 24 at Daytona, we are all especially hungry to get some wins, as well as the championship, and I’m sure George (Kurtz), Colin (Braun) and the APR team can be right up front fighting for it.”
Algarve Pro Racing Team Principal, Stewart Cox, said: “Toby (Sowery) has done a really good job since his LMP2 debut with Algarve Pro Racing in the opening round of the 2023-24 Asian Le Mans Series at Sepang International Circuit. We expected quite a lot from the outset because we tested a large number of Silver-rated drivers and Toby really stood out.
“It has been a steep learning curve but a successful one, and we have been delighted with his performances in the car, his rate of progress at each race and with how he has integrated into the team. In Dubai, he was instructed to go on maximum attack and showed well against some established Pros, and the win he, Chris (McMurry) and Freddie (Tomlinson) achieved in Abu Dhabi was excellent. He’s on an upward curve and there was no hesitation when it came to selecting him for our defence of the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup.”
