U.S. racer participation grows at 24 Hours of Spa

The CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa fills a rather unique niche in the pantheon of endurance races. While its history is almost as long as that of Le Mans, it is overshadowed by the mother of all endurance races, and often the 24 Hours of the Nürburgring as well.

But the solely GT3 race has become significant on the GT racing calendar and has increased in prominence as part of the GT World Challenge Europe and the Intercontinental GT Challenge. That includes greater attention from America – not only from fans, but teams as well. 

Three American teams are contesting this year's 24 Hours of Spa: Winward Racing, CrowdStrike Racing and, making their debut in the race, Wright Motorsports. Ten more American drivers – plus a few who were born elsewhere but live in the U.S. and have USA listed on their FIA licenses – are competing with other teams.

Defending Pro-Am Cup winner CrowdStrike Racing by SPS is technically German based, but because George Kurtz is the driving force behind the effort, it should be considered an American team. The No. 4 Mercedes AMG GT3 EVO, carrying a livery very similar to Kurtz's car in GT World Challenge America, is driven by Kurtz, regular co-driver Colin Braun, Ian James and Nicky Catsburg. Braun is from Texas, and James, although born in England, lives in Arizona and carries a U.S. license. As for Catsburg, well, he races a Corvette in IMSA, so he might be considered an honorary American.

“George and I raced together full time in SRO for many years prior to this,” said Braun. “We both love the style of racing. We love this series and the car. When you look at the SRO and GT3 racing … man, this is the pinnacle of that series. So I think that is kind of the draw. The first time you drive Spa, it's pretty epic. The event, the energy, the fans, just the whole experience is really, really exciting. I think once you have a bit of success, then it's easy to want to come back and keep going.”

Texas-based Winward Racing has an arm in Altendiez, Germany, from which it contests GT World Challenge Europe and DTM. The team has three Mercedes AMG GT3 EVOs entered, including the Gold-class No. 57 for Russell Ward, Philip Ellis, Indy Dontje and Canadian Daniel Morad. Winward, Ward and Ellis are the defending champions in IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GTD, and with Indy Dontje they took the Michelin Endurance Cup as well. Europe has always been a focus of the team, but Ward makes it a point to participate at Spa.

“To me, it's the most intense 24-hour race on the planet,” Ward declares. “You have 75 cars, all of them are super close – in final qualy, you had the top 55 cars all within 1.3 seconds. So it's the ultimate driver's race. The conditions are incredibly tough – you never know when it's going to rain, it's super dark at night, it's incredibly high speed. It's the ultimate training experience for any driver, and if you can be quick here throughout the race, you'll be quick anywhere.”

Wright Motorsports is the newcomer to the 24 Hours of Spa, and took a different approach from most American teams that have European-based teams run a car for them. New team owner Adam Adelson and his co-drivers, Californian Elliot Skeer and Tom Sargent (Australian born but racing on a U.S. license) came directly from Watkins Glen after finishing the Sahlen's Six Hours of the Glen IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race, and brought the entire crew and technical staff with them, as well as the No. 120 Porsche 911 GT3 R that they'll be racing in the Gold category. 

“This is actually our car from the States – not the one that was in Watkins Glen, but our old SRO car,” explained Adelson. “We actually flew out our entire team, a lot of our own equipment, because we wanted to run it our way, right? We didn't want to have to be dealing with all of the challenges of working with other people's equipment and with other crew members. Every single crew member here is a part of Wright motorsports back in the United States. We wanted to really show what we're made of, and we really wanted to compete for the top step in our class. The only way to really maximize that possibility is to keep things consistent.”

The Wright squad is getting some assistance from fellow Porsche team Herberth Motorsports, based in Germany. But otherwise Wright is doing this bucket-list race on their own.

“There are a number of races around the world in which we want to compete. In the U.S., we have our sights on the IMSA championship. And what's amazing is you get to compete in really big individual races there, like Sebring, Daytona and Petit Le Mans. But there are many other really big races around the world. And in terms of competitive fields in GT3 machinery, you don't find anything more competitive than you do here,” Adeslon said.

“Since I fell in love with the sport of racing, Spa has always been my favorite track. To be able to race here and compete here is just a dream.”

Other American drivers in the field include Matthew Bell and Blake McDonald in the No. 70 AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3; Bijoy Garg (No. 76 Barwell Motorsports Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO 2); Anthony Bartone (No. 3 GetSpeed Mercedes AMG); Connor De Phillipi (No. 15 BMW Italia Ceccato Racing BMW M4 GT3 EVO); and Neil Verhagen (No. 777 AlManar Racing by WRT BMW M4). 

• The CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa is scheduled for a green flag at 10:30am. ET. All 24 hours will be carried on RACER Network and the RACER+ App, with coverage beginning at 8:00am ET. Find out more about RACER+ at racerplus.com.