The latest chapter in Robert Wickens’ resilient racing career may be his best yet — competing in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.
Following a three-year stint with Bryan Herta Autosport in the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge, which was highlighted by a championship alongside co-driver Harry Gottsacker in 2023, Wickens is taking the next step in his incredible journey.
The former NTT IndyCar Series standout who was forced out of racing following a 2019 crash at Pennsylvania’s Pocono Raceway that left him partially paralyzed found a home in IMSA’s top division — one he’s looking forward to continuing with DXDT Racing and Corvette next year.
“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 began. “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,’” Wickens continued.
“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.
“We’re really looking forward to the future. Frankly, you know, the offseason already feels too long now that I know kind of what 2025 looks like and just ready to get started.”
With the aid of Bosch technology, Wickens’ Corvette Z06 GT3.R will be equipped with a new electronic hand-brake control system. The electronic braking system (EBS) is still in the development phase for the Corvette.
According to Wickens, the system is “relatively plug and play.”
“The EBS modules are the same that we were using in the TCR car, but in adapting it into a different car there’s always a level of adjustment,” Wickens said. “The function that we’re going to be running, the Bosch EBS will be slightly different again to what we were running in TCR so we’re going to be doing a full brake-by-wire system with the help of General Motors, Pratt Miller and Bosch — all three kind of working in unity. It’s just going to take some time, but we’re hoping to get in the Driver-in-the-Loop simulator in the coming weeks and then, hopefully, we can get our first straight-line test sometime in January in and around Daytona with plans for our first on-track — call it performance running — in kind of that late February to March timeline.
“We’re definitely up against the clock a little bit, but I know if anyone’s going to do it, it’s GM, Bosch and Pratt Miller. I know I’m in good hands. I’m just excited.”
While not a full-time schedule, the 35-year-old Canadian will contest IMSA’s five-race sprint slate, which begins with April’s Grand Prix of Long Beach.
Wickens’ career path prior to his injury was headed toward a long-term stay in open-wheel racing. Now with technology in place to use hand controls effectively, could he possibly return to the IndyCar Series or to a one-off Indianapolis 500 ride in the near future?
“I’ll never say never, right? For me and in my time in my life, if I had a 10-year career with General Motors in GTD, I think I’ll retire a happy man,” Wickens began. “If there are opportunities to move up to GTP, I think every driver wants to challenge for overall victories in anything they do. If an opportunity arises one day to do an Indianapolis 500 or go race in Formula E, it’s always something I’m going to explore.
“I’m at a fun stage of my career. I almost in a way have unique opportunities that I might not have had if I just continued and never had an accident in IndyCar. Career longevity is something that I want to focus on first and foremost.”
That longevity was perhaps uncertain for Wickens when he returned from injury. Wickens said he felt he “was just in like the peak of my career.”
“I felt like I was never fitter,” Wickens said. “I was driving the best I’ve ever done. I’d never been happier to be a professional racing driver. And I feel like in the three years that I was recovering, I lost three of my peak athletic years.”
While Wickens isn’t sure what his future may hold from an open-wheel perspective, his pivot to sports cars is one he’s looking forward to cultivating.
“What I’m trying to do now is just almost continue my career path that I had set for myself as a kid,” Wickens said. “I always wanted to do open-wheel sprint racing, whether it was IndyCar or Formula One, for as long as I could.
“And then from there transition into the sports car realm like so many greats have done. So now I’m just starting that sports car journey now and I’m really looking forward to the future of it.”