CrowdStrike Readies for GT3 Debut Ahead of Austin Race Season Opener

CrowdStrike Readies for GT3 Debut Ahead of Austin Race Season Opener

SUNNYVALE, Calif. – CrowdStrike Racing opens its 2019 Blancpain GT World Challenge Americas campaign this weekend in grand style at the palatial Circuit of The Americas in Austin, Texas. The venue is perfect for CrowdStrike to launch its biggest season of motorsports activity to date: A new partnership with Mercedes begins with a pair of GT3 sports car races here this weekend and an activation with the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport Formula One™ team at this world-class racetrack in November.

There is plenty more ‘new’ in 2019 for CrowdStrike. Drivers George Kurtz and Colin Braun will debut their GT3 racing program together with the new No. 04 CrowdStrike/AWS/DXDT Mercedes-AMG GT3 at the 3.4-mile, 20-turn circuit just outside Austin, Texas. It will be the first race for the duo in the premier category of the championship formerly known as Pirelli World Challenge.

Kurtz and Braun will take part in a pair of 90-minute, two-driver endurance races – one at 3:40 p.m. CT on Saturday and the other at 2 p.m. CT on Sunday. CBS Sports Network will air live coverage from Circuit of The Americas with additional live streaming available at world-challenge.com.

A year ago, the Kurtz/Braun pairing raced 10 times in PWC’s GTS class. It proved to be a stepping stone to competition among the world’s best GT3 machinery and drivers. For 2019, the two will pilot their Mercedes-AMG GT3 prepared by DXDT Racing in the series’ Pro-Am class in seven races, including COTA.

“I’m really excited to get behind the wheel for my first race with the Mercedes-AMG GT3 and DXDT at the Circuit of The Americas this weekend,” said Kurtz. “Colin and I have both had past racing success at COTA, but moving up to GT3 at this incredible track is awesome. Having our CXO guests here to network in SRO’s GT Paddock Club during this great weekend of racing simply underlines the advantages of motorsports partnerships. I’d like to thank AWS, SINET, Accel, and CeramicPro for their support.”

This will be the third full-season run for Kurtz, who co-founded CrowdStrike in 2011 to provide a leading-edge platform of cybersecurity tools to keep businesses and consumers – plus their data – safe from attacks and malware. In 2017, he won nine races – including eight straight at one point – en route to the World Challenge GTSA Driver Championship. Two of those victories came at Circuit of The Americas.

Kurtz followed that up with four top-five finishes in 2018 in a mix of single- and two-driver races. He and Braun raced in 10 events and logged a highly competitive top-10 out of nearly 40 cars.

Braun is no stranger to success at COTA with a past victory there in Prototype racing. The young but experienced American is eager to help put CrowdStrike and teammate Kurtz on the podium’s top step.

“I am very excited to get this season kicked off at Circuit of The Americas,” Braun said. “We had a really good test last weekend with the CrowdStrike Mercedes that allowed both George and I to get familiar with the car at this track. We have a long season ahead of us, so we are focused on building toward better and better results each weekend, and a deeper understanding of this car. The field looks really strong which only adds to the excitement!”

This will also be a huge weekend off the track for CrowdStrike, which serves as the Official Internet and Cloud Security Provider for the SRO America Championships. CrowdStrike also is presenting sponsor for SRO Americas’ new GT Paddock Club, an invitation-only hospitality venue designed to promote B2B contacts within the series.

The first of CrowdStrike’s popular CXO Summit gatherings will take place at Circuit of The Americas, as well. With CrowdStrike’s executive team as hosts, cybersecurity experts gather to discuss trends within the industry as well as enjoy first-class hospitality in some of the top racing markets throughout North America. Partners SINET, AWS, and Accel help to provide stellar thought leadership to each of the six CXO summits held at racetracks in 2019.

On the track, continuing partner Ceramic Pro lends its technology to the CrowdStrike Racing family. Ceramic Pro provides a liquid nano-ceramic coating that – when cured – transforms the surfaces of cars, boats, planes and industrial objects to a permanent and durable – yet flexible – glass shield. Ceramic Pro is Carfax-verified with more than 2,500 trained and certified installers throughout North America.

CrowdStrike is also pleased to welcome SimCraft, a driving simulator company that offers the only motion simulation technology that accurately recreates Earth physics and real race car feeling. SimCraft will bring a racing simulator into the GT Paddock Club for guests to experience the thrill of racing for themselves in the heart of the SRO race paddock.

The Blancpain GT World Challenge America begins its season March 1-3 at Circuit of The Americas. Immediately following this race weekend is CrowdStrike Racing’s first GT4 race with CJ Moses in an Audi R8 LMS GT4 at St. Petersburg, March 8-10. CBS Sports Network will air live television coverage of all Blancpain GT World Challenge America events in 2019. For streaming video or more information on the series, visit world-challenge.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.

ABOUT DXDT RACING
DXDT Racing LLC is a high-performance sports car racing team founded by team principal David Askew in 2014 and located in Salt Lake City, Utah. The Team’s primary focus is on GT3 and GT4 racing in North America. The team has fielded cars in various racing series such as SRO’s Blancpain GT World Challenge America, IMSA’s Michelin Pilot Challenge, and Lamborghini’s Super Trofeo series. Although the team is young, DXDT is comprised of a group of highly experienced professionals with championship winning backgrounds.

Photos: Sideline Sports Photography, LLC