Kurtz, APR “Got Monkey Off Our Backs” With Daytona LMP2 Win

George Kurtz ‘finally got the monkey off his back’ by securing a long-awaited LMP2 victory in the Rolex 24 at Daytona with CrowdStrike Racing by APR after finishing runner-up twice, adding to his stellar record in major endurance races in the process.

Kurtz, Alex Quinn, Toby Sowery and Malthe Jakobsen defeated Inter Europol Competition’s two-car effort to come out on top in the Florida endurance classic, securing Algarve Pro Racing’s first event victory in the process.

For both Kurtz and the Stewart Cox-led team, the Daytona win comes after two near misses in both 2023 and 2024.

The first of those second-place finishes was most memorable, after Kurtz’s then co-driver Ben Hanley was defeated by Proton Competition driver James Allen in a photo finish.

“We finally got the monkey off our back after losing in 2023 by, I think, 16 thousandths of a second,” recalled Kurtz.

“It’s been something that we’ve been working towards for the last couple years.

“We came very close and I couldn’t be prouder of the team and the drivers. [The] all-star lineup here and the CrowdStrike APR guys gave us a fantastic car.

“It was great at the end, we had some adversity in the beginning. At the first turn, I would say. We were innocent bystanders and got cleaned out a bit but the team got us back on track.

“We never gave up and really this has been a lifelong dream. We finally got it done.”

Prior to winning Daytona, Kurtz had already taken class victories in most of the major endurance races around the world.

This includes an LMP2 Pro-Am win at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, class triumphs in the CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa in 2022 and 2025, as well as LMP2 class victories at the Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen and Motul Petit Le Mans in 2023.

Kurtz described his Daytona victory as one that was “missing for a while,” whilst also setting his sights on a follow-up win in the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring after previously winning there in the LMP3 class in 2021.

“It was one that was super special,” Kurtz said. “It’s really extra special because we’ve come so close so many times.

“That last couple of minutes you’re just waiting for something to go wrong or some incident or some yellow that comes out that is going to take it away.

“So to see it actually go through and see it to the finish was really special. Next up for us hopefully is a win in Sebring.

“I’ve got an LMP3 win, but no LMP2 win there. So I think that we’ll try to add that to the list.

“But in general, we’re going to enjoy this. This is such a competitive [class]. You’re against F1 drivers.

“You’re against some of the top folks in the world in the same car all at the same time. To get this win and come out of Daytona on the top step, I couldn’t be more proud.”