Mercedes-AMG Motorsport Customer Racing Teams Tally Second-Straight GT America powered by AWS Win Sweep and a String of Podium Finishes in Competitive SRO America Championships Race Weekend at Sebring International Raceway
George Kurtz and the No. 04 CrowdStrike by Riley Mercedes-AMG GT3 Team Secure Second Consecutive Mercedes-AMG Motorsport Customer Racing GT America Win Sweep in Competitive SRO America Race Weekend at Sebring
SEBRING, Florida – George Kurtz and the No. 04 CrowdStrike by Riley Mercedes-AMG GT3 team secured a second consecutive win sweep for a Mercedes-AMG Motorsport Customer Racing team in the GT America powered by AWS series to anchor a competitive SRO America Championships race weekend at Sebring International Raceway. Kurtz led every lap of the twin 40-minute GT America sprints on Saturday and Sunday to lead a haul of six podium finishes for Mercedes-AMG Motorsport Customer Racing teams across three SRO America racing series at Sebring. CrowdStrike’s Sebring victories followed a similar win sweep one race ago at the Grand Prix of Long Beach where GT America championship leader Jason Daskalos won both weekend races in the No. 27 CRP Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3.
The Sebring sweep was just what CrowdStrike needed after missing the Long Beach rounds when Kurtz was a late withdrawal for personal reasons. Daskalos won the season-opening GT America race at Sonoma, where Kurtz finished third in both weekend sprints, and the drivers resumed their early-season battle at Sebring.
Daskalos kept the pressure on Kurtz from the start in Saturday’s first race but ultimately took the checkered flag 2.239 seconds behind the No. 04. With the Long Beach wins and Sonoma and Sebring podiums, Daskalos continues to lead the GT America championship, but the double-win weekend by Kurtz and CrowdStrike closed the gap on the points leader.
Kurtz and co-driver Colin Braun also reached the podium in Sunday’s 90-minute Fanatec GT World Challenge race with a second-place Pro-Am finish in another No. 04 CrowdStrike by Riley Mercedes-AMG GT3. The runner-up result made up for a race start penalty assessed early in Saturday’s first GT World Challenge race that forced Kurtz and Braun to fight back for a fifth-place finish.
Sunday’s recovery likely keeps the CrowdStrike team and drivers first in the Pro-Am class standings, a lead they took by sweeping the class victories in the year’s opening races at Sonoma.
The fourth Mercedes-AMG GT3 entry to reach the podium at Sebring was the No. 91 Regulator Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 of Jeff Burton and Philip Ellis. Once again using a reverse driver strategy in the Pro-Am class first employed at Sonoma, Mercedes-AMG Motorsport driver Ellis started the race while the No. 91’s bronze-rated “Am” Burton was the closing driver.
Running against mainly Am drivers, Ellis repeatedly set fastest race laps in his opening stint as he built a large lead on the field. Burton took over and continued in the lead at the start of his shift while taking on a field of faster Pros. Burton was passed for the lead but held second until the closing minutes of the race, losing the runner-up position just a few turns before the leaders took the white flag. He crossed the finish line third in Pro-Am and fifth overall for his first podium result in his first full season co-driving with Ellis.
In Pirelli GT4 America series competition at Sebring, the debuting RySpec Racing team broke through for a second-place Pro-Am finish in Saturday’s first 60-minute race. Co-driven by 16-year-old Danny Dyszelski and Johan Schwartz, the No. 635 RySpec Racing Mercedes-AMG GT4 quicky caught the eye of the competition in the GT4 paddock.
Schwartz battled with the other leaders from the start in Saturday’s race before handing off to Dyszelski. From there, the talented teenager took the lead and held it for several laps before giving way to the eventual winning car being driven by a veteran driver with Rolex 24 and IMSA GTD race-winning experience. Dyszelski then held off a late challenge from the third-place competitor to take the checkered flag just 1.820 seconds behind the winner.
Saturday’s runner-up showing was backed up by a fourth-place result by Dyszelski and Schwartz in Sunday’s final Pirelli GT4 race, which brought the Sebring weekend to a close.
Next up for Mercedes-AMG Motorsport customer teams on the SRO America schedule is Circuit of The Americas (COTA) in Austin, Texas, May 17 – 19, where GT World Challenge, GT America and Pirelli GT4 will all be in action.
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport customer teams in IMSA competition return to action next weekend, May 10 – 12, at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey, California, where GT3 and GT4 teams will compete in the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and Michelin Pilot Challenge, respectively.
George Kurtz, Driver – No. 04 CrowdStrike by Riley Mercedes-AMG GT3: “We minimized the damage from Saturday. It was unfortunate, but we finished in a good spot on the podium on Sunday. We’re just trying to knock out podiums. Sebring is a tough track for us, but the CrowdStrike by Riley guys gave us the best car they had today, and we’ll take a second and look forward to Austin in two weeks. In GT America, we’re fighting through a gap after missing Long Beach. We’re not going for podiums we are going for race wins. We put our heads down and did what we needed to do this weekend and will keep it up all season.”
Colin Braun, Driver – No. 04 CrowdStrike by Riley Mercedes-AMG GT3: “Overall, it was a great weekend for us. George did a great job on the GT America side and did a really good job on the GT World Challenge side. The CrowdStrike by Riley guys nailed it with the pit stops and the execution. We came in with pretty high expectations, the Mercedes-AMG GT3 was really strong on the long runs, but we just couldn’t quite get that last change on the car we needed to get it dialed in. So, to have a weekend like that and to finish it off as strong as we did shows we have a championship-contending team. That’s the way you win these championships. Overall, it was a really good effort.”
Jason Daskalos, Driver – No. 27 CRP Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3: “The competition is awesome. George Kurtz drove great. His car handled well. My car was really good in the beginning Saturday, but at the end I was struggling. I really lost the rear and I just had to back up a little bit. But it was a great race and, as long as we got points, we are good with it. With the points lead that we have, if we’re consistent, we’ll be good at the end.”
Jeff Burton, Driver – No. 91 Regulator Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3: “We always felt we could put ourselves on the podium. I kind of like the different strategy that we’re doing. There’s competition out there, but nobody’s rolling over for you. Nobody’s letting you just go by, so you’ve got to be very competitive in your approach. There’s even more for us to try to achieve. There’s second place and there’s first place and that’s what we’re looking for. Saturday’s podium was because of Philip and our engineers. They’ve worked tirelessly with me ‘technique wise’ in the car. Most people think it’s not a big deal. You just turn the wheel, you push the gas and you hit the brake, but here’s a lot of technique you’ve got to have.”
Danny Dyszelski, Driver – No. 635 RySpec Racing Mercedes-AMG GT4: “It was just a great race. I could not have done it without Johan. He is the one who put me in this position. We were leading most of the race Saturday, and then just battling it out for second at the end. That was the most fun I’ve had wheel-to-wheel battling in a long time. You can follow and you can run side-by-side so well in these cars. The difference in how these cars all gain time is very impressive because it makes the racing very entertaining. I would say we had quite a good top end compared to the winner, in the mid-corner sections I was able to get a lot better, and the balance of the car never changed.”
Johan Schwartz, Driver – No. 635 RySpec Racing Mercedes-AMG GT4: “It was just incredible. I’ve worked with Danny for a little over a year now, I knew he was a very, very fast driver, but the composure that he showed, and the maturity and the race craft that he had here were absolutely incredible. And he’s only 16 years old. He’s got a great, great future ahead of him, and he’s humble when he gets out of the car. I had a blast out there in my stint. My main concern was to get a good start, keep all four wheels on, no contact and bring it back in the box for him to do his work. This is for Danny. I enjoy working with him. My job is to bring him to this kind of result.”
