If you asked anyone who follows North American sportscar racing with an interest in the pro-am categories, Ben Keating and George Kurtz would likely be their answer to the question of who the best amateur driver is these days. Both of them achieved significant honours in LMP2 on Saturday at the 26th annual Petit Le Mans.
Keating, Paul-Loup Chatin, and Alex Quinn clinched the IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship LMP2 title with a third-place finish in class – while Kurtz won the Jim Trueman Award and an automatic invitation to next year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans.
It was Keating’s second LMP2 championship with PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports, to close out a four-year partnership between Keating and PR1 Mathiasen. In his typically charming and earnest manner, Keating remarked: “This one is special for a lot of different reasons. I’ve been with PR1 Mathiasen racing for four years now, and every year we’ve won what we’ve set out to win. I did a full season with them in ’21, and again in ’23. I only did the four endurance races with them last year.
“But it’s been such an incredible run. It’s such a great team. It is very literally a family affair – and it’s just really special. A really tight battle with the #11 car and the #04 car, and to have it all come down to this crazy race, the way it finished…it’s just really, really special.”
Together with LMP2 co-champion Paul-Loup Chatin, Keating looked to have the championship wrapped up when the #11 TDS Racing Oreca crashed out with three hours and 30 minutes left. The #11 crew of Steven Thomas and Mikkel Jensen were leading the championship headed into Saturday’s race, but one slight error from the Peugeot works driver Jensen sent him and Thomas’ title hopes crashing – quite literally, into the tyre barrier at turn five.
But then after sunset, Keating and Chatin nearly watched the whole thing slip away when Quinn spun into the gravel at turn ten with less than two hours to go. Quinn called upon his past experience avoiding getting stuck in fields during the winter as a farmer, to navigate the purple and orange #52 Oreca 07 out of danger and preserve their title chances.
Quinn’s heads-up driving won Keating and “PLC” the championship, but the race victory ended up going to Kurtz and company at CrowdStrike by APR. Kurtz and Hanley were 104 points out of the lead for the season championship but still had a chance to win both the Michelin Endurance Cup, and even more importantly for Kurtz, the Trueman Award. “The big implication, obviously, was Le Mans. That was really the prize for us,” Kurtz explained.
Kurtz, Thomas, and Keating were actually tied in the Trueman Award standings heading into Road Atlanta, which made the calculations for the award very simple – whichever Bronze-graded driver finished first in the race, would get the award and the golden ticket to Le Mans.
“We had to have a lot go right to win the overall championship, but the two things we were focused on was the endurance championship, and the big one was Le Mans. At the end of the race, with just 20 minutes left, you’d never think there’s going to be a green flag to the end. So many emotions go through your mind. I give so much credit to my co-drivers, and the team did such a fantastic job, so we’re excited.
Kurtz revealed that the successful tie-up between CrowdStrike Racing, the racing brand of his renowned cybersecurity firm, and established LMP2 contender Algarve Pro Racing was a spur-of-the-moment deal that grew beyond its initial scale – but has now produced two significant honours in IMSA, plus an LMP2 Pro-Am class win at the centennial Le Mans 24 Hours with Hanley and Colin Braun as his co-drivers.
“When you put it all together, and you think about where we started – this programme here in IMSA really wasn’t even on the radar until November,” Kurtz continued. “We put it together in a shop out of Arizona where I live. And we were originally gonna do just the endurance races, and we just said, you know, we really like the car, Stew (Stewart Cox) and the APR guys did a great job putting it together, we said, ‘well, let’s just go for it.’ And then we went and said, ‘well, let’s go for Le Mans.’ So we put it all together, and it was just an amazing success. It was something that we couldn’t have dreamed of when we started the season.
“Obviously, we had a big year at Le Mans, and we hope to go back, and see what we can do, as well.”
Kurtz took time to recognize what winning the Jim Trueman Award meant to him, the prize named in honour of a man who also used his success in business to fuel his passion for racing. “When you think about where that came from, there’s some similarities. I didn’t start racing when I was a kid in go-karts. I got there later in life, and racing became a big part of what we do at CrowdStrike. It starts with Formula One, all the way through what we do here,” Kurtz reflected.
“And we’re always trying to give back to racing as well. Obviously, we’ve got young guys like Nolan this year, who’s done a great job, and I’d love to see kids come up the ranks. So for me, it’s always about making the sport a little bit better. I think that’s what’s really exciting too.”
Like Keating, who also had immense success as a Corvette Racing GTE Am driver this year, Kurtz prides himself in excelling both in GT3 racing in GT World Challenge America – and also in prototypes. “If you look at some of the other areas that I race, similar programme to next year. I enjoy the versatility, and I think being able to drive different cars makes you a better driver – and I’m having a lot of fun doing this.
“We’re gonna do Asian Le Mans as well. I think we have a lot on the racing docket, and I look forward to Daytona.”
Kurtz won the automatic entry to Le Mans via the Trueman Award, but Keating’s move to United Autosports USA for the 2024 IMSA season was a decision made with the goal of continuing to race at Le Mans next year, in a category that suits his style of racing. “The driving force behind that is the 24 Hours of Le Mans,” Keating said of his transfer to United.
“I had an opportunity to win an automatic entry today. But I knew it was going to be very tough, between the #04 and the #11. George, in the #04, ended up winning the automatic entry tonight. And so, going with United next year was kind of my ‘Plan B’.
“And as I look at the teams that are running LMP2 in Le Mans…word on the street is that there are going to be 15 spots for LMP2 in the race next year. I think there are four or five that are automatic entries. When I look at the teams that are out there that I think will get one of those ten entries, I think United will get one. That’s the one thing they had to work with me on to try to pull me in to drive with them – and of course, I’ve got it in my contract.”
Keating has already announced that Quinn will join Keating at United next year, but only for the five Michelin Endurance Cup rounds. He also teased his full-time signing next year by saying: “I get the advantage of getting to bring Alex with me – and I think that you can expect the press release on our co-driver early next week.”
Said mystery driver was revealed on Tuesday to be none other than Ben Hanley.
Another driver who is eager to start his next chapter is second-generation driver Gar Robinson, who anchored a clean sweep for Riley Technologies in the final year of LMP3 racing in the IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship.
Robinson won his second LMP3 series championship in three years just by taking the green flag in his #74 Riley Ligier JS P320, and he and co-drivers Felipe Fraga and Josh Burdon won the Michelin Endurance Cup to complete the full set.
The collaboration between the second-generation Robinson and Riley, which dates back to Gar’s father George and his association with Riley & Scott in the Trans-Am Series over 30 years ago, will continue on into 2024 when he and Fraga make the step up to LMP2.
“It feels pretty special. The past three years have been probably some of the best years of my life,” Robinson said of his successful run in LMP3. “Being with all my different co-drivers, and with the Riley team, carrying on the legacy that my dad and Bob and Bill (Riley) started in the ’90s, with the Trans-Am cars and WSC cars. Just, super special to me, and it really brings it home.
“The championships and the wins and stuff are spectacular. But the memories, and the lessons, and the fun that I’ve had for the past three years are something that I get to love and enjoy and keep for the rest of my life.”
LMP3 will drop off the WeatherTech Championship’s slate thanks to the growth in IMSA’s other classes and as a whole. Like Prototype Challenge before it, LMP3 in IMSA has been panned by sportscar racing’s fanbase at large, fairly or not, for lacklustre driving standards displayed by the people who step behind the wheel.
That’s why it’s worth acknowledging that Robinson, who carved his path to endurance sportscar racing’s pinnacle through Trans-Am just like his father, was seldom a hazard to himself or the others around him – he was an example of what was possible in these loud, nimble lightweight prototypes.
“It’s sad to see. I’m disappointed to see the class go away,” Robinson said of the end of this LMP3 era. “But I’m looking forward to the future, and I’m looking forward to running against these guys next year,” he said, looking to his right towards his future LMP2 rival Keating.
“We’re looking forward to having you,” Keating said, welcoming Robinson as a new challenger to his throne. Robinson, confidently, replied – “Today was the last day that I’m letting you by, Ben!”
Images © Jake Galstad, Michael L. Levitt / IMSA
