Kurtz Approaching Le Mans Debut With “Open Mind”

Photo: CrowdStrike Racing

George Kurtz said he’s entered the LMP2 ranks this year with an “open mind” that’s been met with early success from CrowdStrike Racing by APR ahead of his long-awaited Le Mans debut.

Kurtz has teamed up with longtime co-driver Colin Braun and Australian ace James Allen in the Algarve Pro Racing-run Oreca 07 Gibson for this weekend’s 24 Hours of Le Mans.

It comes after stepping up to LMP2 competition in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, highlighted by two podium finishes in three races and a class pole for the Bronze-rated driver at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.

Speaking with Sportscar365, Kurtz revealed that he attempted to make his Le Mans debut in the Road to Le Mans support race in recent years but was never able to line it up due to scheduling conflicts.

“It’s been on the list for a number of years, at least to start with Road to Le Mans and then work myself up into the full race,” he explained. “It’s been something I’ve wanted to do for a long time.

“That never worked out schedule-wise, but with APR and P2 it all kind of lined up this year.

“[The] expectations are to come here and get to learn the circuit and minimize mistakes. Obviously there’s a lot of rules that are different from what we race in the U.S.

“We’ve got a great team so we’re familiar with APR who is running it. We’ll do the best we can and see where it shakes out after 24 hours.”

While Braun makes his first 24 Hours of Le Mans start since 2007 when he finished second in the GT2 class in a Krohn Racing Ferrari F430, Allen was part of APR’s LMP2 Pro-Am-winning lineup in last year’s French endurance classic.

This year’s LMP2 class features a stacked field of 24 entries, nine of which will be vying for top honors in the Pro-Am subcategory.

“Between Colin and James, who has done a whole bunch of Le Mans here, a 24-hour race, a lot of it is similar. You’ve got to be around at the end,” Kurtz said.

“And with the rules here, you’ve got to hustle. You can’t just wait for a yellow to kind of pack it back up.

“But I think we’ve got to focus on what we’ve done for many years at Daytona and other races.

“It’s just about minimizing mistakes. I’ll do the best I can and leave it to these guys to try and bring it home.

“We’re here to win but I think if we can get a podium that would be [like] a win as well.”

Kurtz said his transition to LMP2, following previous years of LMP3 competition while continuing his GT3 program in Fanatec GT World Challenge America powered by AWS, has made for one of his busiest years in racing yet.

While his CrowdStrike by APR Oreca came up a mere 0.016 seconds short of LMP2 class victory in the Rolex 24 at Daytona, ironically to his Le Mans co-driver Allen, Kurtz said he’s taken a methodical approach in acclimating to the Oreca prototype.

“I just went into it with an open mind,” he said. “It’s great that we’ve been able to have success early.

“I think it’s probably testament to a lot of the work we’ve put in over the years with different cars and working with guys like Colin.

“From my perspective, the team has done a great job. I got comfortable with the car pretty quickly and I’m just trying to build on it.”

IMSA GTP star Braun, who boasts previous LMP2 experience from his time with CORE autosport and more recently Era Motorsport, said he feels Kurtz is ready to shine in the class.

“Obviously, we’ve been working together for a long time,” Braun told Sportscar365. “He’s been doing a great job in the SRO series. He came along with me and Jon Bennett at CORE the last couple of years in P3 and did a really nice job there.

“Moving up to P2 this year has obviously been a big step but he’s been doing a great job at getting there.

“The natural progression is wanting to come to Le Mans. He’s comfortable in the car and has a lot of miles in it. I think it’s a good, natural next step.”

Braun said the goal this week will simply be getting additional experience in the car.

“For George for sure and even for me, just getting some experience and getting laps has to be the game plan going into it and see what shakes out,” he said.

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John