CrowdStrike Celebrates Podium-Winning Weekend at VIR
- CrowdStrike is the Official Internet and Cloud Security Provider for SRO America
- Kurtz, Braun earn second in Blancpain GT Pro-Am race with CrowdStrike/AWS Mercedes-AMG GT3
- Moses, Sofronas score second-place in CrowdStrike/AWS Audi for GT4 SprintX race
ALTON, Virginia (April 30, 2019) – CrowdStrike gave its guests plenty to celebrate during the SRO Americas weekend of racing at Virginia International Raceway. The program came away with two podium-position finishes across Saturday and Sunday, thrilling a number of CrowdStrike and AWS cybersecurity employees and supporters in attendance.
The duo of George Kurtz and Colin Braun scored their first podium finish of the season in their No. 04 CrowdStrike/AWS/Accel/DXDT Mercedes-AMG GT3 following Sunday’s 90-minute Blancpain GT World Challenge America race. Not to be outdone, CJ Moses and James Sofronas earned trophies in Pirelli GT4 SprintX competition as well with their No. 04 CrowdStrike/AWS/Accel/GMG Racing Audi R8 LMS GT4.
Along with CrowdStrike’s role as Official Internet and Cloud Security Provider for SRO America, the VIR weekend will go down as one of the most satisfying for everyone involved with CrowdStrike Racing.
Season’s Best Result for Kurtz, Braun in CrowdStrike Mercedes
Kurtz and Braun gave CrowdStrike Racing its best race result of the season and as a duo with a runner-up finish Sunday with their DXDT-prepared CrowdStrike/AWS/Accel Mercedes-AMG.
Braun began the race third in class and seventh overall but moved up in the race’s opening half. By the time the team made the mandatory pit stop for driver and tire changes plus refueling, Braun was one of the top-five in the field. He finished his stint and handed the Mercedes over to Kurtz for the final 40 minutes of the race. Kurtz rejoined in third place in his class, but it took him less than five minutes to move back up to second. He stayed there through the checkered flag, finishing second in class. He and Braun celebrated with DXDT and the CrowdStrike guests.
“We had a great weekend here at VIR,” said Kurtz after Sunday’s race. “Colin and I had a good first race and were in a position for a podium finish, but we got shuffled back a little bit in the restart. We bounced back today with a strong second-place finish! Colin did a fantastic job bringing it home. Big thanks to the DXDT team and crew, and the CrowdStrike team for putting it all together. We had a great car and a great result for the weekend! Of course, we couldn’t have done it without our sponsors – CrowdStrike, AWS, Accel, CeramicPro, SimCraft, SINET and Sparco!”
Kurtz also enjoyed a strong start in the No. 04 CrowdStrike/AWS/Accel Mercedes-AMG in Saturday’s first race and ran third in his category in his opening stint before the race’s required pit stop. It marked an improvement of three positions as he handed it off to Braun.
From there, Braun gained five seconds on the runner-up before a full-course caution with 10 minutes to go. Unfortunately, the young American star was impeded by a slower car on the restart and dropped down the order. He was still happy with the weekend’s overall result.
“Saturday didn’t quite go how we wanted,” said Braun. “George and I had a podium run going then on the last restart I got moved out of the way by a lapped car. Sunday was a much better day! I was able to bring the car to George in second and he finished a great drive to bring home a second-place finish in class! I’m really proud of George and everyone at CrowdStrike and DXDT Racing for executing a solid race. I hope this starts a streak!”
Moses, Sofronas Celebrate CrowdStrike Audi GT4 Podium
The CJ Moses/James Sofronas pairing gave the AWS and Audi guests at VIR plenty to cheer about Saturday with the first podium of the season for the No. 04 CrowdStrike/AWS/Accel/GMG Racing Audi R8 LMS GT4 in Saturday’s first GT4 SprintX race.
Moses drove the first 33 minutes and gained six positions before the mandatory driver change to Sofronas. He went from fifth to third in the final stint for a well-earned and deserved podium and celebratory champagne spray for the CrowdStrike and AWS group. A post-race penalty for a competitor bumped the team up to a second-place finish.
“Racing at VIR with James in the GMG prepared Audi R8, I felt right at home,” said Moses. “We had a couple of good races this weekend, but finishing our Saturday on the podium was beyond expectations. After two intense race weekends on street courses, racing at VIR really was like a ‘welcome home’ – and having friends and employees from AWS and CrowdStrike here to cheer us on made it all the better! Thanks to CrowdStrike, AWS, Accel, Ceramic Pro, SINET and Sparco who helped make this weekend an unforgettable one!”
In Sunday’s race, Sofronas and Moses opened strong but couldn’t replicate Saturday’s result in the CrowdStrike/AWS/Accel Audi. They were able to secure the weekend’s second consecutive top-five finish, marking a continuous improvement for the No. 04 Audi this season.
“Another solid weekend in the books,” stated team owner James Sofronas. “VIR is always a track that requires the most from the car, so being able to earn CJ his first podium at such a challenging place is a great reward. We’re entering the busiest part of the year, and the crew has been perfect as always. A smooth event was able to net not only a podium for our entry, but another top-10 for Jason. We continue to learn and develop, and we look forward to the next round.”
The Blancpain GT World Challenge America and Pirelli GT4 America championships next visit Canadian Tire Motorsport Park on May 17-19. For more information on all races, visit CrowdStrikeRacing.com.
ABOUT CROWDSTRIKE®
CrowdStrike, a cybersecurity technology company, is the leader in cloud-delivered endpoint protection. Leveraging artificial intelligence (AI), the CrowdStrike Falcon® platform offers instant visibility and protection across the enterprise and prevents attacks on endpoints on or off the network. CrowdStrike Falcon deploys in minutes to deliver actionable intelligence and real-time protection from Day One. It seamlessly unifies next-generation AV with best-in-class endpoint detection and response, backed by 24/7 managed hunting. Its cloud infrastructure and single-agent architecture take away complexity and add scalability, manageability, and speed.
© 2018 CrowdStrike, Inc. All rights reserved. CrowdStrike®, CrowdStrike Falcon®, are among the trademarks of CrowdStrike, Inc. Other brands may be third-party trademarks.
ABOUT GMG RACING
Founded in 2001, GMG has quickly established itself as North America’s premier performance tuning facility. What began as a small 1200 sq. ft. shop, maintaining two race cars, has grown into a 30,000 sq. ft. state of the art performance tuning, racing and service facility located in (Orange County) Santa Ana, California. The staff, attention to detail and passion are what make GMG the choice of professionals and enthusiasts worldwide. Learn more at gmgracing.com.
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