Robert Wickens Ready For His Next Big Step
Photo: Team Chevy
For Robert Wickens, this weekend’s IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race on the streets of Long Beach represents his next step on his road to returning to top level motorsports.
In three seasons with Bryan Herta Autosport, Wickens finished sixth, first and third in IMSA’s Michelin Pilot Challenge Series. This season, Wickens moves up to the premier sports car racing series in North America.
Starting this weekend at Long Beach, Wickens will compete in five sprint races on the schedule in a DXDT Racing Corvette Z06 GT3.R that will be specially equipped with a new electronic hand-brake control system from Bosch. The 36-year-old Wickens, who drives using hand controls following an IndyCar Series accident in 2018 which left him paralyzed from the waist down, will be the only driver on the grid using hand controls in WeatherTech competition.
Photo: Team Chevy
“It's an amazing day to finally move up to top-tier competition in the IMSA WeatherTech Championship, racing in GTD with DXDT with the Corvette,” Wickens commented. “Obviously it hits home. A hero of mine growing up was always Ron Fellows. So the fact that I'll be driving a Corvette like he made so famous to many Canadian drivers, it's going to be just a lot of fun.
“And I can't thank DXDT enough for the opportunity. Bosch for, frankly, making it all possible. I've been wanting to move up into WeatherTech for quite some time. I felt like I was fairly transparent in that messaging, but it was always a difficult communication trying to convince the OEMs or the team owners to one, put me in the car like any other racing driver and then say, ‘Oh, by the way, you have to design a whole braking system that doesn't exist.’
“So the fact that Bosch came to the table with their technology, it's already giving me the opportunities that I want in my career, not only just in this next journey, you know, moving up into the IMSA WeatherTech series, but we already raced it in the TCR category for the final two rounds of the Michelin Pilot Challenge Series with great success. So we're really looking forward to the future.”
Wickens knows making his WeatherTech series debut at Long Beach will be an unforgiving, but special experience.
“Having my season kick off in Long Beach is going to be a little bit of baptism by fire for sure, right? Why not learn the IMSA WeatherTech racing with a track with no runoffs and walls everywhere? But for me, kind of the emotional journey of having my debut on a race weekend that we share with IndyCar is going to be pretty special. My active role within Andretti Global that I still have… I think there's going to be a lot of friends around, old drivers, current drivers. It's just going to be really cool to see. I'm sure the support is going to be really, really nice. The whole thing is just going to be fun. Honestly, I think there's definitely more excitement than nerves. I just want to get my feet on the ground into that Corvette and see how it goes.”
Photo: Team Chevy
Recently, Wickens tested the car at Sebring Raceway and came away impressed.
“The biggest takeaway I have so far is that it feels like the Bosch EBS and the hand-control system developed by Pratt Miller belongs in his car. There hasn’t been a single hiccup. It’s like when they designed the Corvette Z06 GT3.R it was always in the plan. It looks like it belongs in the car. It feels like it belongs in the car. Immediately I felt way more comfortable with the braking feeling and braking sensation then I had in my past racing in TCR with the Bosch EBS. It was a massive step forward so hats off to all the men and women at Bosch, Pratt Miller, GM and DXDT Racing for collaborating in making this all possible.”
Wickens will be teamed with longtime Corvette factory driver Tommy Milner this weekend at Long Beach. Milner considers his role not only as a challenge, but an opportunity and an honor.
“All of those things. More than anything, I would say an honor because I've met Robbie a couple of times over the years in the past and now have spent a lot more time with him recently just after Daytona. You can tell why he is successful in racing, why he was so successful prior to his incident as well. He’s just super focused on getting the most out of himself, out of the car team, that kind of thing.
“For me to be part of that story and that process, and hopefully give him a good foundation to do the next four races in IMSA this year, I do look at it as a challenge as well. I want to help him as best as I can, give him as much of the knowledge and information that I've gathered over the years driving this Corvette to give him the best opportunity to be successful.”
Tommy Milner
Photo: Team Chevy
Milner admits just being around Wickens has been an inspiration.
“For him to go through what he went through and with his drive and determination to get back in a race car again and be competitive and win races, that's something that can be an inspiration for anybody. Anybody who's gone through some sort of hardship like he has it's what you make of your life and that situation. You can tell that it does change parts of his life. But the one thing that he doesn't want it to change realistically is him driving race cars and driving them as fast as he does.
“To see that in person, that drive and determination and just never-give-up attitude that he has, it’s inspiring. I'm excited to race with him and see on a race weekend that part of him that I can tell that he has. To see that really come out, is going to be something exciting.”
While this is the latest step in Wickens’ growth and comeback, it shouldn’t be considered his final one.
“I think there's a lot of things left. My goal from the outset of this was to get back to the highest levels of motorsport again. I've always seen that the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship is the highest level of sports car racing here in North America. Aligning myself with someone like General Motors and DXDT Racing, it was just the perfect fit. It would be a dream if I could call it a 10-year career here in the IMSA WeatherTech series racing against the best drivers in the world and one of the best series in the world.
“In terms of what's left, there's always opportunity. But my goal is always to get to the highest levels and I feel like I'm here. So the next step is to become a week-in, week-out staple of the series and make sure I can get myself to a full-time position for 2026 and then start fighting for championships. Hopefully we can challenge for race wins and podiums here this year. There's no Sprint championship in the IMSA WeatherTech Championship, so we're going to have to wait a year, hopefully go full-time and then try to make a full run at it. In terms of what's left, I don't know. It's kind of a fun part of my career right now. With the help of Bosch, I feel like there are more opportunities than I thought I would have 12 to 24 months ago.
“I think this is a big step,” Wickens continued. “For me to officially get that fulfillment, I want to be a full-time contender in the WeatherTech Series. Honestly, taking the green flag in Long Beach is going to be an enormous step forward in my career and my journey back to the highest levels. Basically, you could say ‘We did it. We're racing against the best cars and the best drivers in the whole sports car industry’.
“I want to win championships for myself, for General Motors, for DXDT. There's still some work to be done. I think you could say it's definitely a massive box to check, probably the biggest box that we could check off so far in my return.”