CrowdStrike Racing by APR refocuses on IMSA title after strong showing in disappointing Rolex 24

CrowdStrike Racing by APR showed all the strength, speed and tenacity required to win the 63rd Rolex 24 at Daytona (23-26 January) with drivers George Kurtz, Toby Sowery, Malthe Jakobsen and Colton Herta.

The Portugal-flagged team put in a measured performance from start-to-finish, but it was left disappointed in seventh position following an unfortunate late-race crash that occurred while still in contention for the victory and the coveted Rolex Cosmograph Daytona watches.
Conditions were set fair when the 2025 edition of the Rolex 24 commenced at 13:40 on a bright Saturday afternoon, and CrowdStrike Racing made hay while the sun shone, immediately climbing from ninth to fifth with starting driver Kurtz.

The race settled down within a handful of laps of the 3.56-mile Daytona circuit, and Kurtz went on to set personal best sectors in a first-class performance that kept him inside the top eight, even as rival teams introduced their Pro racers.

In fact, two drive-through penalties for minor pit lane speed violations were the only blemishes on an otherwise flawless quadruple stint that lasted more than three hours, Kurtz only giving way to Sowery as the sun dipped towards the horizon and temperatures bled away.

Sowery went to work by registering class-leading lap times in the 1m39s on a successful mission to lift CrowdStrike Racing back onto the lead lap and up from a distant 11th position.

At dusk, a Full Course Yellow (FCY) pass-around presented an opportunity to recover that lost lap, and Sowery then made up places to fourth in an impressive restart.

The Cambridgeshire, England-based driver pushed on into the night, chasing down the podium contenders and engaging the #74 Riley of former Formula 1 driver Felipe Massa in battle, which raged on until NTT INDYCAR SERIES star Herta was placed aboard the CrowdStrike-liveried ORECA.

The #74 was dispatched by Herta in short order and the American was under the rear wing of the #52 PR1 Mathiasen Motorsport when a particularly efficient pit stop launched the #04 crew up into P1.

Later, there was a series of major reshuffles at the top of LMP2, but CrowdStrike Racing re-established itself in first position with Team Peugeot factory driver Jakobsen, who did just enough to keep the pacy #88 AF Corse at arm’s length until Kurtz rejoined the battle late in the evening.

Sowery, though, once again dipped into the 1m39s on his nighttime ascent back up the leaderboard, which was aided by yet another super-fast FCY service by the well-drilled CrowdStrike Racing by APR pit crew, a four-place gain to P2 the reward.

A perfectly timed restart saw Sowery surge into the lead and, while the initiative was prised from his grasp a lap later, he kept the hammer down and bridged the gap to the #22 United Autosports of ex-F1 racer Paul di Resta prior to the next driver-change.

Herta’s lap times were also rapid on his return to the cockpit of the #04 prototype, but a spin at the Western Horseshoe and a drive-through for a pit lane protocol violation cost heaps of time and track position.

Seventh after 12 hours, CrowdStrike Racing eventually broke back into the top three, but more than half of the ten remaining LMP2 teams featured at or near the top of the leaderboard early on Sunday morning, each deploying smart strategies around cautions and supreme racecraft during extended periods of green flag running.

Happily, CrowdStrike Racing survived the long night and held P3 as the sun rose over Daytona International Speedway, until a lock-up sent the #04 ORECA hard into the tyre barriers.

The stricken prototype was wheeled behind the wall for a replacement tail section, engine cover, sidepod and suspension, and the team’s double-quick repairs ensured the car returned to action after a 26-minute stop, the impact of which was reduced by consecutive FCYs.

Eighth in class and ten laps off the lead with a determination to push on to the chequered flag, there were ultimately very few opportunities to recover lost ground during the final five hours, and CrowdStrike Racing by APR was isolated in P7 at the conclusion of the Rolex 24.

George Kurtz (#04 CrowdStrike Racing by APR ORECA 07-Gibson LMP2): “CrowdStrike Racing by APR gave us a great car that was competitive from the very beginning of the Roar right through to the end of the Rolex 24 at Daytona. We had a great opportunity to finally win the watch but, sadly, didn’t get the outcome we had hoped and expected to be fighting for at the end.

“We’re disappointed with the result because it doesn’t reflect the capabilities of the drivers and the team, which did a great job. We will learn and focus on being even better next year. Now we turn our attention to Sebring and the hunt for the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.”

Toby Sowery (#04 CrowdStrike Racing by APR ORECA 07-Gibson LMP2): “The result is what it is, but it’s still unfortunate. CrowdStrike Racing by APR delivered a fantastic car and a great strategy to make sure we were consistently up at the front fighting for the lead.

“The Rolex 24 at Daytona is always tough and tends to go the way of those who don’t make any mistakes. Unfortunately, there was one towards the end of the race that we couldn’t recover from. It’s disappointing, but this is endurance racing and I think we’ll learn, apply those lessons to the remaining races and come back even stronger.”

Colton Herta (#04 CrowdStrike Racing by APR ORECA 07-Gibson LMP2): “Overall, it’s an extremely disappointing result for me. CrowdStrike Racing by APR worked really hard and did a very good job throughout the two weeks we were in Daytona for the Roar test and the Rolex 24 itself. I’m proud of the fight we put up and, without the mistake, we could have had a solid finish. It’s a tough one to take but, moving forwards in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, the team knows it has a very quick race car and a great crew to take it through to the end of the 2025 season.”

Malthe Jakobsen (#04 CrowdStrike Racing by APR ORECA 07-Gibson LMP2): “The 63rd Rolex 24 at Daytona started very well and we were looking strong for many hours. We had a quick car and stuck to our original strategy plan, making it through the night to the final quarter of the race. We had the potential to fight for watches at the end, which was exciting! It didn’t pan out as we had wanted but we will put this behind us and hope to have the opportunity to fight for the victory again next year.”

CrowdStrike Racing by APR Team Principal, Stewart Cox, said: “It’s obviously not the result we wanted, but, although I’m massively disappointed because we had a great car and a great crew, it’s the Rolex 24 at Daytona and you simply can’t make mistakes. We have a lot to be happy about because George Kurtz’s first quadruple stint was great and he followed that up with a couple more first-class drives at the end of the race. George is hungrier than ever to win and his driving has improved greatly since this time last year.

“There were some silly mistakes along the way, but you learn and move on. Unfortunately, one of those mistakes really cost us. We went there to win and were desperate not to finish second, having done so the past two years. The car was running perfectly and many of the other really quick LMP2 teams fell out of the race with mechanical troubles, so we would have been in a great position. Ultimately, we scored points but are treating this as our worst result of the season, and we’re more determined to get big finishes in the remaining rounds, starting with the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring.”