Braun Hoping to Get “Luck Back On Our Side” at 24H Spa

Photo: CrowdStrike Racing

Colin Braun said he’s hoping CrowdStrike Racing’s luck will turn around in this weekend’s CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa, following a challenging and busy month of endurance racing for he and co-driver George Kurtz.

The longtime driver pairing are coming off the 24 Hours of Le Mans, where they retired from LMP2 Pro-Am contention with Nicky Catsburg after losing a wheel, while the CrowdStrike by APR crew lost a second-place LMP2 class finish in last weekend’s Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen due to a drive-time infringement that was triggered by a red flag.

Braun, Kurtz and reigning Pro-Am class winner Nicky Catsburg and Ian James are set for Spa this weekend in CrowdStrike by Riley’s Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo.

“It’s been a tough couple of races we’ve had for sure,” Braun told Sportscar365. “But I think the positive is that we’ve had good pace, we’ve been in good positions, the teams have executed well. We’ve done our job on the driving side.

“Sometimes you have things out of your control that impact your races. That’s racing.

“That’s why I guess they don’t call it winning, they call it racing. You have to go and do your part and then also obviously have a little bit of luck along the way.

“Spa would be a great place to get that turned around.

“I feel like with the group that we have, Year 2 with Riley and help from SPS [automotive performance], CrowdStrike being the title sponsor of the race, it would be a great place to get it turned around and get luck back on our side and hopefully get it going for the rest of the year back Stateside too.”

CrowdStrike by Riley has returned for a second consecutive year to Spa, in a largely unchanged effort, except for Catsburg replacing Felipe Fraga in the Pro-Am class lineup.

It is the sole Fanatec GT World Challenge America powered by AWS team represented in the 66-car GT3 field.

“I think it’s really cool and special to be able to come and bring the team as well,” said Braun. “Obviously it’s a big effort by Riley from the logistics side. There’s a lot that goes on behind the scenes.

“It’s a real testament to how much Riley being part of our program means to George and how good of a job they do to bring all of that over here and compete.

“It’s a big undertaking and neat to see, from our side, all of the same faces and mechanics, engineers and all of our normal crew and people that we’re used to, even though we’re in a different country at a different race, it’s neat to have the same friendly faces and our normal team.”

He added: “It’s almost like another race in our SRO America program; we just happen to be at Spa doing it.

“I think that continuity goes a long way, especially in a race like this where the smallest of things have a big impact.

“Just having a familiar voice on the radio, knowing what the inflections of their voice might mean of what a certain call might be, is worth its weight in gold at a place like here, at a race that’s this competitive and this tough.”

Braun, meanwhile, has praised the addition of Catsburg to the lineup, who brings considerable experience to the table this weekend at Spa.

“He’s a GT3 expert, he’s a Mercedes expert, he’s a Spa expert,” he said.

“For here, it’s been fantastic. Even at Le Mans, he adapted so well to the P2 car. He knows Le Mans so well, so I think that really offset some of the lack of experience on the P2 side. But he just fits in really well and has been a huge add for our group.”

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