George Kurtz – Syndication Server

Kurtz, Braun lead Crowdstrike to AsLMS title and Le Mans invite

Two invitations to enter the 2024 running of the Le Mans 24 Hours were handed out Sunday after a thrilling climax to the 2023/2024 Asian Le Mans Series season in Abu Dhabi. For Portuguese-flagged, British-run team Algarve Pro Racing, it was a …

Two invitations to enter the 2024 running of the Le Mans 24 Hours were handed out Sunday after a thrilling climax to the 2023/2024 Asian Le Mans Series season in Abu Dhabi.

For Portuguese-flagged, British-run team Algarve Pro Racing, it was a historic weekend with the team’s No. 4 Crowdstrike Racing by APR ORECA, driven by former IMSA GTP driver Colin Braun, Peugeot Sport Hypercar reserve driver Malthe Jakobsen and George Kurtz, sealing the LMP2 titles in dramatic fashion. A bold strategy call led to a surprise victory in race one on Saturday before a seventh-place finish in Sunday evening’s finale finished the job.

As a result, the team has been awarded an invitation to enter the Le Mans 24 Hours in the LMP2 class, adding to its invite earned through winning the 2023 European Le Mans Series LMP2 Championship last year.

Notably, Kurtz has a personal invitation of his own to race at Le Mans after winning IMSA’s Jim Trueman award in 2023, also with Crowdstrike APR.

Elsewhere, Lithuanian Porsche customer team Pure Rxcing’s fairytale 12 months continued when its 911 GT3 R 992 of Alex Malykhin, Klaus Bachler and Joel Sturm took the hotly-contested GT title. This invitation to enter the 24 Hours adds to its invite earned by winning the World Challenge Europe Bronze Cup title and its full-season WEC entry with Manthey in LMGT3 which grants a space on the grid automatically. This means the team could have as many as three cars on the entry for its debut at the event.

It remains to be seen whether or not the Manthey-supported team will utilize its Asian Le Mans invite at La Sarthe. Primarily, the allure of competing in the Asian Le Mans Series was, according to team owner Edgar Kochanovskij, “to practice, stay in shape and work with Manthey” over the winter.

“The philosophy of the team is to pure, true racing,” Kochanovskij said when asked by RACER what its plans were should it win another invitation.

“If I can find a driver lineup that I am happy to put my name on, then yes [we would use the invitation], but I don’t think it will [be very easy] to find talented, passionate, hard-working and motivated Bronze drivers to fill the entry.”

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Swiss team COOL Racing sealed the LMP3 title in the final race, but there is no invitation for the LMP3 class title winner this season. Instead, the team will receive priority when entering the 2024 Le Mans Cup Road To Le Mans support races held during the Le Mans race week for LMP3 and GT3 cars.

The two invitations handed out Sunday add to the nine already awarded before the start of the Asian Le Mans Series season last December. (All entries are subject to final decisions from the ACO Selection Committee.)

This year’s Asian Le Mans Series season had a grid maxed out at 42 cars, plus the return to Sepang for the first time since the pandemic proved to be a hit with the teams, and the title battles in all three classes went down to the wire.

Before the series decamped at the Yas Marina circuit, the Jordanian-flagged, TF Sport-run 99 Racing ORECA LMP2 squad, which featured former F1 driver Nikita Mazepin in its driver line-up, looked firmly in control.

Mazepin, along with Ahmad Al Harthy and WTRAndretti GTP driver Louis Deletraz won two of the three races at Sepang and Dubai heading into the final meeting. They held a 20-point lead in the standings.

The team’s title hopes fell to pieces this weekend after a smorgasbord of misfortune and drama handed Crowdstrike Racing a lifeline, which it grasped with both hands.

In race one, after starting on pole with a changed driver lineup due to an illness for Mazepin, Al Harthy was turned into a spin on lap one, dropping him to dead last. The car then retired in the third hour after a bizarre incident under safety car conditions.

Al Harthy rear-ended the GT title-winning Pure Rxcing Porsche while both cars were avoiding a car in the queue that suddenly braked hard. He was, somewhat controversially, penalized for his role in the incident. The damage to the No. 99, meanwhile, was severe — the car needing a full rebuild around a new tub from AF Corse overnight ahead of Sunday’s four-hour race.

The efforts of the mechanics would be in vain as the car struggled for pace with a shifting issue throughout the race, lost time due to an emergency service stop under the safety car and was forced to serve a stop-go penalty for the race one incident. Ultimately, they came home only 11th overall, handing the title to Crowdstrike Racing by APR.

Kurtz, Sabo grab GT America victories at Road America

GT America powered by AWS race one at Road America started with a green flag and an on-track battle nearly simultaneously. In the No. 04 CrowdStrike by Riley Mercedes-AMG GT3, George Kurtz went on to win the SRO3 Class and Elias Sabo prevailed in …

Jason Daskalos would attempt to get the jump on SRO3 polesitter Memo Gidley. GT4 Class leader Elias Sabo was also under pressure from teammate Jason Bell at the start. The race would feature two caution periods for cars off, the second caution coming within the final five minutes. The checkered flag joined the yellow flag to end the race.

SRO3
Gidley held the lead in his No. 101 TKO Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3 from the start of the race, which he steadily led to the dismay of Daskalos in the No. 27 CRP Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3. Daskalos jumped Gidley at the start, resulting in a drive-through penalty. After serving the penalty, Daskalos would retire from the race early.

Meanwhile, Gidley would battle with George Kurtz in the No. 04 CrowdStrike by Riley Mercedes-AMG GT3. Gidley began creating a gap as he approached the rear of the GT4 Class field. However, a yellow was brought out by the No. 009 TRG Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 of Tim Savage. The yellow packed up the field and on the restart, Kurtz pulled a veteran move and overtook Gidley for the lead.

In a fight of their own, Anthony Bartone in the No. 427 RealTime Racing had settled into third prior to the yellow, but at the restart, Adam Adelson in the No. 120 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R took advantage of the speed coming down from the start/finish line and passed Bartone for third place. Johnny O’Connell was out of the mix but held his own, advancing from eighth to fifth over the race in the No. 3 SKI Autosports Audi R8 LMS.

Mirco Schultis finishes sixth after starting the race ninth in the SRO3 Class. He battled alongside Kyle Washington in the No. 32 EBOOST Porsche 911 GT3 R who finished seventh. Taking home eighth place was newcomer Brian Lock in the No. 86 CDR Valkyrie Acura NSX GT3 who had an unexpected pit stop for damage to a rear panel. Marc Austin from Lone Star Racing finishes ninth overall. Alex Vogel went on to take home 10th, while Andy Wilzoch would finish in 11th place.

GT4
Sabo led from start to finish, but Bell in the No. 2 Flying Lizard Motorsports Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 was always on his bumper. Bell had a look at the lead after the No. 009 brought out a caution. Sabo was able to close the door and keep Bell behind in second place. Bell was followed across the finish line by the No. 50 Chouest Povoledo Racing Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 of Ross Chouest. Chouest steered clear of the dueling teammates as he held off the Tony Gaples in the No. 5 Blackdog Speed Shop Chevrolet Camaro GT4 R.

Newcomer Scott Blind in the No. 045 Archangel Motorsports Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 finished fifth in class and took home the honors of hard charger with 10 overtakes. Gray Newell has shown speed all weekend and in doing so, walked away sixth in his No. 25 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 with John Roberts in the No. 11 Fast Track Racing BMW M4 GT4 a second back. Nicholas Shanny had a great handle on the No. 21 Carrus Callas Raceteam Toyota GR Supra GT4 EVO and brought it home eighth. Ninth place went to Brady Behrman in the No. 428 van der Steur Racing Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 who survived his first race of the season.

Todd Parriott took home 10th place after holding off Savage in the No. 009 Aston Martin Vantage AMR who nicely recovered after bringing out the first caution from an off-course excursion. Amir Haleem caught out Robb Holland in the No. 099 Rotek Racing Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport. Holland was fighting out front when Haleem in the No. 66 CDR Valkyrie Nissan GT-R Nismo GT3 slid into the side of Holland and took him off course. This incident brought out the final caution of the race.

Race two will close out the weekend on Sunday, Aug. 20 at 8:45 a.m. CT. Fans can stream the race live on YouTube or Twitch.

RESULTS

Derani smashes Road America record on run to IMSA pole

The fresh pavement at Road America may prove to be quite a challenge for Sunday’s IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race, but in qualifying it was producing record laps in most classes. With most of the day having been somewhat overcast until qualifying, track temperatures were kept a bit lower than they might have been, and it showed in ultimate speed.

Pipo Derani, with both Cadillacs having been at the top in the practice sessions, might have been an easy pick to score the pole position, and he delivered with a 1m47.730s in the Action Express Racing V-Series.R. That time, a 135.27mph average around the 4.048-mile circuit, was nearly a second better than the old DPi lap record set by Dane Cameron in an Acura in 2019, the first time the GTPs have been quicker than their predecessors all season. It also brought critical points for Derani and Alexander Sims as they attempt to maintain their championship lead.

“With the new tarmac, it’s very important to be out front not only because it will be hard to overtake GTs on the outside, being so slippery. Also, in the moment that we are in the championship, to be starting out front has a big impact, I would say,” Derani explained. “Back when I won the championship in 2021, it was decided on the minimum, like one or two, three points. Being able to take these extra points home could mean something at the end of the championship.”

Derani set the quick time, then brought the Cadillac into the pits to put on a new set of tires to scrub for the race while waiting to see if Sebastien Bourdais in the No. 01 Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac could better his time. Not only did Bourdais fall 0.3s short at 1m48.036s, the Cadillac front-row party was spoiled by Matt Campbell in the No. 7 Porsche Penske Motorsports 963 who posted a 1m47.798s lap — pace not shown by any of the Porsches previously during the weekend, something Derani says isn’t too surprising to him.

“I think during practice there’s so many different programs that you do with your own team that you don’t really necessarily know each one’s true pace until qualifying comes. What we do know is that the GTP class has been very close and so you would never discard anyone before the checkered flag in qualifying. Not surprised. I think it’s good for the championship that everyone is very close. It’s good for the fans, and it puts an extra pressure on the team to execute races and execute practices and qualifying at a very high level, because you know that anything can can make a difference in the end.”

Filipe Albuquerque qualified fourth with a 1m48.156s lap in the No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport Acura ARX-06 to start on the outside of the second row alongside Bourdais. Connor De Phillippi will start the No. 25 BMW M Team RLL M Hybrid V8 on the inside of the third row, with Colin Braun in the No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing Acura alongside.

George Kurtz, who might have been racing elsewhere were he not leading the LMP2 championship with Ben Hanley, qualified the No. 04 Crowdstrike Racing by APR ORECA on the LMP2 pole with a 1m53.621s lap — more than half a second better than Rodrigo Sales in the No. 8 Tower Motorsports ORECA.

Kurrtz’s closest rivals in the championship, which was practically a dead heat coming into Road America, will start on the second row. Richard Dole/Lumen

Steven Thomas qualified the No. 11 TDS Racing entry third at 1m54.296s, with Ben Keating putting the No. 52 PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports ORECA on the outside of row two.

Nico Pino, who had a scary moment launching off the end of the curb at the exit of Turn 1 with all four wheels in the air, still managed to claim the LMP3 pole. Pino, a late substitution for Lance Willsey in the No. 33 Sean Creech Motorsport Ligier, turned a record 1m57.930s lap before he took flight to claim the pole by nearly a second. Bijoy Garg, making his first start in WeatherTech Championship, qualified second in the No. 29 Jr III Racing Ligier. Garg was supposed to partnering with Linus Lundqvist for his debut, but with Lundqvist getting the call-up from Meyer Shank Racing to drive their IndyCar in Nashville, he is instead driving with Colin Noble. Gar Robinson qualified the No. 74 Riley Motorsports Ligier third with a 1m58.224s.

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“This is the first time for me in Road America. I just got here for P1,” said Pino. “It was a lot of learning. We struggled a little bit through the practice sessions so we had to make big changes for qualifying, which obviously worked out. Then tried to explore the limits a little bit through the session, of course having some airtime at one point. Yeah, pretty happy with pole. It’s…a good position for tomorrow’s race, so we’ll now analyze and see how we can improve on being in great position for tomorrow.”

The GTD records were obliterated as well, with Alex Riberas beating the previous records by more than 2s in taking the pole for GTD PRO as Heart of Racing looks to repeat its double victory from Lime Rock. Riberas’s 2m02.918s (118.56mph) in the No. 23 Aston Martin Vantage GT3 was a scant 0.057s better than Daniel Juncadella in the No. 79 WeatherTech Racing Mercedes AMG. Jordan Taylor qualified third in GTD PRO in the No. 3 Corvette Racing C8.R with a 2m03.143s lap.

After some early struggles, Riberas is giving back to the Heart of Racing crew that have toughed things out and turned the year around in a big way. Geoffrey Miller/Lumen

“A great day for Heart of Racing overall,” said Riberas. “It’s been a tough year so far. A lot of things that went against our way in terms of strategy, some mistakes, some things that didn’t quite work for our car, and we had to overcome those. But at the end of the day, momentum plays a massive role in terms of performance and in terms of getting the outcome, so I feel like we have that momentum right now…after the win at Lime Rock. The guys are doing a phenomenal job getting the car ready after the big crash that Ross [Gunn] had at Mosport. It just feels very special to be able to give them back a reward for all of those super long hours of work that they had to endure.”

Madison Snow will start the No. 1 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3 on the outside of the second row as he scored his first GTD pole since the qualifying format was opened up to either driver. His 2m03.291s lap reset the GTD record held by Ben Keating since 2019.

“It’s a tight field, a lot of cars and if you have to work your way up to the pack, it’s definitely a challenge. We’ve been in a tight competition with the Heart of Racing car, so every little point that you can get matters and the points add up at the end of the year.”

Snow’s closest pursuer in qualifying, Brendan Iribe in the No. 70 Inception Racing McLaren 720S GT3, will start directly behind the BMW, with Jack Hawksworth having qualified the No. 14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3 fourth in GTD PRO and fifth overall. Iribe was only 0.091s off Snow’s best lap. Klaus Bachler put the GTD PRO No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R seventh overall to provide more separation to the third-place GTD car, Frankie Montecalvo in the No. 12 Vasser Sullivan Lexus.

Mike Skeen was fourth in GTD in the No. 31 Team Korthoff Motorsports Mercedes AMG, followed by Roman De Angelis in the No. 27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin.

UP NEXT A 20-minute warm-up session at 8am local time ahead of a 10:10am Central time race start.

RESULTS