CrowdStrike Racing by APR targeting 2025 Rolex 24 victory with Kurtz, Herta, Jakobsen and Sowery

The Algarve Pro-CrowdStrike Racing partnership was hugely successful from the start, as IMSA victories, podiums and pole positions led to glory in the 2023 Michelin Endurance Cup and Jim Trueman Bronze Cup.

In fact, success was achieved across three continents, as CrowdStrike Racing by APR was also crowned 2023-24 Asian Le Mans Series Champion, having previously landed a momentous LMP2 Pro-Am win in the Centenary of the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Victory in the Rolex 24 remains elusive, though; in 2023, CrowdStrike Racing was pipped at the line by a mere 0.016s – the smallest winning margin in the race’s history – and another runner-up finish followed in 2024.

As a result, Kurtz has never been more determined to reach the top step of the podium at Daytona International Speedway, and he said: “We are pleased to be back for a full IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season with a fantastic team in CrowdStrike Racing by APR and talented drivers in Colton (Herta), Malthe (Jakobsen) and Toby (Sowery).

“We had great success with Malthe, I am pleased Toby has reunited with us because he was a tremendous asset, and I think we are really lucky Colton is joining us for Daytona. Overall, the team is ready and focused on maximising our results in 2025.”

Herta became the youngest driver ever to win an NTT INDYCAR SERIES race at 18 years, 359 days old during his rookie 2019 season, but he now has nine victories and 14 pole positions to his name, having led 1147 laps over 99 career starts to date.

However, the 24-year-old Andretti Global racer has also triumphed outside of American open-wheelers, as he notably stands as a two-time Rolex 24 winner who added a Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring victory to his illustrious résumé in 2024.

Importantly, Herta is well-acquainted with Kurtz, as both took the Hyundai i30 N TCR they shared with Colton’s father Bryan to P1 in class in the 2018 WeatherTech Raceway California 8 Hours at Laguna Seca.

Hoping to replicate that success and extend his own winning record on the high banks of Daytona International Speedway, Herta said: “I’m super excited to be joining the CrowdStrike Racing by APR team. I’m also looking forward to working with my teammates, George (Kurtz), Malthe (Jakobsen) and Toby (Sowery), and trying to go for a third Rolex 24 at Daytona win. Everyone has put together an amazing programme and I’m very excited to see what we can do.”

Jakobsen, meanwhile, first teamed with Kurtz for CrowdStrike Racing by APR’s title-winning 2023-24 Asian Le Mans campaign, as well as a one-off IMSA outing at Daytona. The 21-year-old has since been named as a Team Peugeot TotalEnergies factory driver for the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) but, as in 2023-24, Jakobsen will firstly compete with Algarve Pro in the forthcoming Asian Le Mans Series and the next edition of the Rolex 24.

“I’m very excited to be going back to the Rolex 24 at Daytona with CrowdStrike Racing by APR,” said Jakobsen. “We have some unfinished business at Daytona, but, with our team and driver line-up, we will be ready to fight for the win in January.”

Sowery’s association with Algarve Pro extended to a partial 2024 IMSA programme, following a maiden race appearance with the Portugal-flagged team in the 2023-24 Asian Le Mans Series at Sepang. The Cambridgeshire, England driver turned to endurance racing after his climb up the junior single-seater ladder took him onto the ‘Road to Indy’ in the USA. Sowery’s knowledge and experience of the American racing scene stood him in good stead when he took on the 2024 edition of the Rolex 24 at Daytona with CrowdStrike Racing, but he feels the team still has unfinished business.

“It’s super exciting to be back for the 2025 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship,” said Sowery. “I have a lot of time for everybody at CrowdStrike Racing by APR. We had a fantastic 2024 driver line-up but our strength didn’t quite translate into representative results, so I feel we have unfinished business and it’s great to be back.Everyone is incredibly hungry to kick off the season strongly by fighting for the top spot in the Rolex 24 at Daytona.”

CrowdStrike Racing by APR Team Principal, Stewart Cox, said: “Nobody goes into a series like the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship or an individual race like the Rolex 24 at Daytona to finish second, and it’s demoralising when you miss out on the victory after 24 hours. Having finished runner-up the last two years, CrowdStrike Racing by APR has done even more preparation in readiness for the 2025 edition of the Rolex 24 and, from a team perspective, we feel we’re a little further down the road. We will once again be among some really strong team-driver combinations, but we have the car and line-up to win it and just have to join the dots. We’ve got a job to do!”