Photo: JEP/SRO
George Kurtz said winning class victories at the CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa came amid a “war of attrition” in the Pro-Am ranks, with only three of the six starters seeing the checkered flag.
Kurtz, his long-time co-driver Colin Braun, along with Nicky Catsburg and Ian James emerged victorious in the centenary edition of the Belgian endurance classic, driving their No. 04 CrowdStrike by Riley Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo to a 15-lap lead over their nearest rival.
Although the team was in the top two places of the race practically from the start, the competition began to stay on the track from the third hour onwards, including a dramatic rollover accident of Martin Konrad’s Triple Eight JMR Mercedes-AMG No. 888, who was uninjured in the accident.
The No. 100 McLaren 720S GT3 Evo of Team RJN, which was its closest competitor for most of the race, retired in the closing hours due to turbo problems.
In its second appearance at the Spa 24 Hours, the American team was the only Pro-Am car not to suffer any significant setbacks, which Kurtz said was the key to the win.
“The whole team did a fantastic job all week,” he said. “The guys at CrowdStrike by Riley provided the four of us with an amazing Mercedes-AMG.”
“It was really a war of attrition, so it was all about staying out of trouble. We were able to keep hanging in there and stay out of trouble better than our competition.
“We kept doing laps, so hats off to my co-drivers and the team for the great work.
“By the time the race is over, anything can happen. I’ve been close in many long races and seen them get away. Colin, Nicky and Ian have done a great job to make sure we get to the finish and win.”
Braun, who spent some time in the Mercedes-AMG during the night when heavy rain occurred, was aware of the challenge of keeping the car on the track.
“George sat under the safety car for a while in the pouring rain, which looked questionable,” Braun told Sportscar365. “They said, ‘You’re next! When it turns green, you come in.’
“I thought, ‘Oh great, this is going to be exciting.'”
“I jumped in and was surprised. I’ve already driven two rain races here in Spa, but I was surprised by how much water was in the air in the forest area.”
“From the top of the Raidillon to Turn 5 you couldn’t see anything and just hoped that nothing was in the way. Fortunately that wasn’t the case.”
“It was a bit crazy overnight but we had to try to be aggressive when we needed to be and then be smart towards the end and just look after our car and make sure we were there at the end.
“It was one of those races where we had to be fast at times and then smart and make good decisions.”
While Catsburg scored two consecutive Pro-Am wins following his triumph last year with SunEnergy1 Racing at Spa, Kurtz recorded his second victory in the 24 Hours of Spa class after claiming the Bronze category title in 2022, while it was Braun and James’ first race wins.
The crew, led by Bill Riley, consisted mostly of the winning team from the Fanatec GT World Challenge America powered by AWS.
“I think it’s been a while since an American team actually won a class,” Kurtz added.
“The fact that we can come here and spend most of our time in America with World Challenge America and the races we do is, in my opinion, a testament to the competition there and the professional level of the teams.
“When you add in the fact that it’s the 100th anniversary (of the race) and all the victories we’ve had, including some big races like this one, it’s really something to remember.”
Davey Euwema contributed to this report
