CrowdStrike Racing by APR resiliently fights to P5 points finish at “rough and tumble” Sebring

CrowdStrike Racing by APR led by the formidable line-up of George Kurtz, Toby Sowery and Alex Quinn took a hard-fought fifth-place finish in the 74th Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring (19-21 March).

In a race defined by its signature “rough and tumble” intensity, the team displayed remarkable resilience to stay in the hunt and bank crucial championship points.

A polished qualifying performance from Kurtz ensured CrowdStrike Racing started Sebring’s iconic once-around-the-clock enduro – Round 2 of the 2026 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship – from fifth.

CrowdStrike’s Kurtz initially gained a spot in a particularly sharp start but then yo-yoed between P4 and P5, keeping the class leaders in view while gapping his pursuers as he guided the #04 ORECA 07-Gibson by lapped GTD traffic.

However, a Full Course Yellow (FCY) that fell neatly within the LMP2 fuel window sparked a hive of competitive stops, and a couple of missteps meant CrowdStrike Racing was in a distant P9 after completing a ten-second stop-go penalty for an “improperly served emergency service”.

CROWDSTRIKE RACING ATTEMPTS SEBRING RECOVERY

Far more consistent than the majority of his Bronze-rated class rivals, Kurtz edged nearer to the lead eight until a second-hour FCY accelerated CrowdStrike Racing’s Sebring recovery.

Critically, the neutralization nullified the team’s deficit to the main pack and also provided opportunities to refuel the #04 prototype without giving up track position.

In fact, it meant Kurtz was there to pick up the pieces when two opponents came to grief at the restart, re-establishing himself inside the top six by maintaining high levels of consistency across a marathon 84-lap stint, which took him beyond the third hour.

CrowdStrike Racing sent Cambridgeshire, England-based Sowery out in P7 but leapfrogged the sixth-placed car on pit lane during the next caution period.

It was an important place-gain with a slew of IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup (IMEC) points up for grabs at the four-hour mark and, well aware that track position was everything, Sowery upped the pace and cleared three cars in quick succession.

In a dramatic twist, points for P3 were lost in a terrifying 130mph spin that left Sowery counting his blessings, having somehow managed to keep the #04 ORECA out of the wall on the inside of Turn 1.

The CrowdStrike-liveried prototype emerged from the slide unscathed but had already sustained left-rear damage in light contact with another LMP2; neither the team nor Sowery were aware of a bent toe link, so they pushed on and climbed from seventh to third before the next driver-change.

Quinn entered the fray for CrowdStrike Racing in fifth but made small, intermittent gains to eventually engage two cars in a drawn-out fight for P2.

The Cornwall, England driver turned the screw on his opponents, but there was nothing to choose between the trio and all kept cool heads, the order remaining unchanged.

STRATEGY COMES TO THE FORE

Drama on pit road made the difference, as CrowdStrike Racing got the better of its rivals to breach the podium places with five hours still on the clock, and the drivers were buoyed by the knowledge that they would enjoy fresh tires in all remaining stints.

Sowery and Quinn duly solidified CrowdStrike Racing’s status as a podium contender during a long phase of green flag running, and the team’s strategy ensured it was second when the next round of IMEC points were awarded.

PODIUM HOPES FADE INTO THE DARKNESS

However, the pack was shuffled again by consecutive cautions and CrowdStrike Racing’s podium hopes began to ebb away, the #04 lacking raw pace due to its damaged left-rear quarter.

Quinn lost out in frantic Safety Car restarts, was unable to overhaul the third-placed runner as the race reached its conclusion, and instead gave up fourth position at the very last.

Nevertheless, CrowdStrike Racing’s breakthrough Rolex 24 at Daytona win and its P5 finish at Sebring place it second in the IMSA LMP2 Teams and Drivers Championships, just three points off the current first-placed crew.

In the IMEC, the American-flagged outfit is joint-second, only four points adrift of P1 with multiple opportunities to score in the remaining three endurance rounds at Watkins Glen, Road America and Road Atlanta.

George Kurtz (#04 CrowdStrike Racing by APR ORECA 07-Gibson LMP2): “We wanted to be on the podium so a P5 finish in the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring is a little disappointing, but we can take comfort from the fact we’re still in a good place in the championship with a long season ahead of us.

“I did what I had to do in my race stints, lapping at a solid pace and bringing the car back in a decent position. I felt good when I stepped out of the cockpit, certain that getting my Bronze drive-time out of the way early was a huge advantage. Unfortunately, the car was later damaged by a rival and no longer had the winning performance we possessed early in the race, but Toby (Sowery) and Alex (Quinn) did a strong job.”

Kurtz continued: “Sebring is a race of survival for both the drivers and cars. In fact, it’s probably one of the hardest enduros around because it feels like you pack 24 hours’ worth of racing into half the time, given how demanding, bumpy and hot it is. My final conclusions are that we have a lot of positives and plenty of lessons to take away so that we go to Watkins Glen even stronger, as it’s a track we like and usually excel at.”

Toby Sowery (#04 CrowdStrike Racing by APR ORECA 07-Gibson LMP2): “Our result in the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring isn’t ideal and everyone has come away feeling disappointed. P5 isn’t a terrible day, but CrowdStrike Racing by APR turns up to win and anything less is underwhelming. We’re always striving for more and that desire to win is ever-present. It’s a long championship and we will have had a great season if fifth is our worst finish.

“My Turn 1 spin was pretty sketchy; Sebring is renowned for its bumps and the car simply bottomed out, causing me to lose control, and I was lucky to avoid the wall by millimetres. Unfortunately, a tap from a rival that’s quite typical of multi-class racing caused left-rear damage, which hampered our performance. Nevertheless, we still had a good car and remained in the fight, despite the limitations.”

Alex Quinn (#04 CrowdStrike Racing by APR ORECA 07-Gibson LMP2): “We’re disappointed to finish fifth in the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring, but we should feel happy to have scored a good amount of points that keep us second and very close to the championship leaders. CrowdStrike Racing by APR did a good job with the strategy to keep us in the fight to the end of what is always an intense and frantic race of survival.

“The ability to single-stint our tires with around five hours to go made a big difference and suited us much better, as you don’t set up your car for double stints. Toby (Sowery) and I felt far more comfortable and were able to push harder, even though light left-rear damage meant the car wasn’t quite perfect. Things didn’t always go our way and there were a couple of mistakes from us drivers, but we can be very pleased if fifth turns out to be the worst result of the season.”

Algarve Pro Racing Team Principal, Stewart Cox, said: “We knew from pre-season testing that we had a strong, race-winning car but, although we run at the front every year we come to Sebring, it has always bitten us badly and we’ve never achieved our ambitions. We deployed a different strategy this time, not pushing until the last two stints and, while George (Kurtz) and Toby (Sowery) did exactly what we needed, a hit to the left-rear damaged a toe link. We didn’t know until after the checkered flag, so we were surprised and confused to find that the pace simply wasn’t there when Toby and Alex (Quinn) started pushing on.

“It tells me that we need to change the way we prepare for Sebring specifically, perhaps pushing the car to a point where we could easily see that there’s an underlying issue. If we had known, we would have given up a lap to replace the damaged parts because it was the difference between winning and finishing fifth this time around.”