Photo: CrowdStrike Racing
When George Kurtz, Colin Braun and Nicky Catsburg battled with Ian James for victory in the Pro-Am class at the CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa last month, the trio joined the “rare club” as the only drivers to have won two century editions of the 24-hour endurance classic.
That’s because Kurtz and Braun were victorious in the LMP2 Pro-Am class at the 100th anniversary race of the 24 Hours of Le Mans last year, driving CrowdStrike by APR’s Oreca 07 Gibson, while Catsburg took the GTE-Am category win for Corvette Racing in the same race.
Twelve months later, the trio shared the top step of the podium for the 100th time in another 24-hour race, this time at the wheel of a Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo entered by CrowdStrike by Riley.
“From my perspective, one of my buddies brought it up to me and said, until we thought about it, ‘Hey, I think you guys are the only ones who have done this,'” Kurtz told Sportscar365.
“To be part of such a rare club and to achieve such victories is simply incredible. It is a tremendous achievement and an honor.”
“Obviously Le Mans wasn’t great for us this year, so it was nice to win last year and then to follow it up with a win at Spa for the 100th anniversary.
“The common denominator was the other guys I was with who were successful there.
“This year it was pure coincidence that we were all able to come together and put the win on the board as a team.”
Reflecting on this unique achievement, Braun said he was grateful that the two CrowdStrike-backed teams gave him this opportunity.
“These races are something very special in themselves. The fact that we were able to win both (in the anniversary year) is incredible,” he said.
“George and I were actually talking about it the other day and going through the list in our heads of guys who both could have won.
“The title sponsor of Spa was of course CrowdStrike, so it was even cooler.
“After the victory at Spa, the last week and a half have been incredible. I think you never forget a victory at Le Mans either.
“When you combine the two, it’s something very special.”
Catsburg, who has a class win at the Daytona 24 Hours as well as an overall win at the Nürburgring 24 Hours, said he was “super proud” to have accomplished this centennial 24-hour double, especially with two different teams and cars.
“I always say that these (24-hour) wins are not easy,” he told Sportscar365. “Sometimes you really have to realise that you are in a lucky position that you are always in cars that are capable of winning.”
“Because there can be many years in which you don’t win anything at all. I’m very happy with that.”
“This year’s Spa was super tough. The weather conditions were extremely difficult. Due to the changeable conditions, there were many crashes during the race.
“It was especially nice that we were at the front. People might say, ‘There weren’t that many cars in your class and not many cars finished the race or they were many laps behind.’
“That’s true, but ultimately we won the race because the others made mistakes or made the wrong decisions at the wrong time.
“My teammates did a fantastic job keeping the car on the track. They thought about safety and finished the race first. That’s why we won the race because the team and drivers made the right decisions.”
“And Le Mans is of course Le Mans. I can’t deny that. That was a very special race for us. After so many years of trying, we won the last race in the GTE-Am class and with a Corvette. That was something very special.”
Kurtz, meanwhile, said that his two 24-hour race-winning cars, which still bear the “battle scars” of the races, have been transferred to his private collection.
As for his next big goal of winning an endurance race, the CrowdStrike co-founder and CEO said he has his sights set on the Rolex 24 at Daytona, a race where his team narrowly missed winning the LMP2 class in 2023.
“I have no plans to race at the Nürburgring, so Daytona is the only option left,” he said. “We’ve been so close in recent years.”
“Last year it was sixteen thousandths of a second, which was heartbreaking. This year we had a strong car, a strong team and a strong line-up and we just missed second place.
“This is really the (next) goal. This means I’m fulfilling all my expectations, as these are the most prestigious endurance races. We’ll see what we can do for next year.”
