CrowdStrike Racing Readies for First 24 Hours of Le Mans with Algarve Pro Racing
CrowdStrike Racing is set to tackle one of motorsport’s greatest challenges this weekend with the Algarve Pro Racing team at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
George Kurtz, Colin Braun and James Allen will drive together in the CrowdStrike-liveried No. 45 ORECA 07-Gibson prototype for the Algarve Pro Racing team as part of the Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2) category. The trio took to the Le Mans track for six hours of testing Sunday, along with the rest of the field for this year’s race.
There are 62 entries in the race with 24 cars in LMP2 – the largest class in this year’s Le Mans. The French endurance classic is one of the most difficult and unique races in the world. The 8.5-mile Le Mans circuit is a mixture of private, purpose-built racetrack and public roads through French villages and countryside. The challenge of Le Mans is so daunting that it has spawned a major motion picture, many race documentaries and millions of fans around the world.
More than 300,000 fans make the journey to the town of Le Mans, which lies to the west of Paris. The race was first held in 1923 with this year’s event being the Centenary celebration.
While this is the 100th year of Le Mans, it’s the first time in the race for Kurtz. A winner of multiple 12- and 24-hour races – including last year’s 24 Hours of Spa – he is no stranger to long-distance races and victories. Already this year, Kurtz has to his credit a runner-up LMP2 finish in the Rolex 24 at Daytona and a P2 pole position in the most recent IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race at Laguna Seca.
Braun will race at Le Mans for the first time since 2007 when he finished second in the production-based GT2 class. He is a three-time winner of the Rolex 24 including the LMP2 class in 2020. In Allen, they have an experienced driver who raced at Le Mans each of the last five years. He finished third in LMP2 in 2021.
CrowdStrike’s participation at Le Mans extends off the track, as well. CrowdStrike will welcome and host a number of guests during the race week, and a focal point will be a highly exclusive CXO Summit for its VIPs.
A fixture at major events in North America and at the CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa, CXO summits allow CrowdStrike VIPs an opportunity to meet and discuss current trends in cloud computing and cybersecurity with industry thought. Each CXO Summit session will allow the VIP guests to learn how to best secure their businesses from breaches.
APR competes at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, scheduled for 4 p.m. CET / 10 a.m. ET on Saturday, June 10. MotorTrend and MotorTrend Plus will provide both live television and streaming coverage, the latter beginning with Wednesday’s opening practice. Radio Le Mans will stream audio coverage of all practice sessions, qualifying and the race with in-depth reporting via the CrowdStrike Pit Reports throughout the event weekend.
For more information, visit CrowdStrikeRacing.com. Follow #CrowdStrikeRacing on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for updates.
Adam Sinclair
Adam has been a race fan since the first time he went through the tunnel under the Daytona International Speedway more than 30 years ago. He has had the privilege of traveling to races all across the state of Florida (as well as one race in Ohio), watching nearly everything with a motor compete for fame and glory, as well as participating in various racing schools to get the feel of what racecar drivers go through every week.
Adam spent several years covering motorsports for Examiner.com., where he had the opportunity to see the racing world from behind the scenes as well as the grandstands. He invites everyone to follow him on Twitter, Facebook, and Google Plus, and looks forward to sharing his enthusiasm for all things racing with the readers of SpeedwayDigest.com.
Be sure to tune in for his sports talk program, Thursday Night Thunder, where he discusses the latest in motorsports news with drivers, crew members, and fans. The show takes place (almost) every Thursday at 8:00 pm EST on the Speedway Digest Radio Network.
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