LONG BEACH, Calif. — Robert Wickens, who was paralyzed in a 2018 Indy car crash, will continue his pursuit of speed, competing in five IMSA WeatherTech Sports Car Championship races this season.
Wickens, who has raced various sports cars in recent seasons with the help of hand controls, will team with Mason Fillippi in the No. 36 Corvette for DXDT Racing beginning with the April 17-18 Grand Prix of Long Beach.
“I am going to be doing all five of the sprint rounds of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship alongside a former teammate, a good friend of mine, Mason Filippi,” Wickens said earlier this week. “So it’s going to be an exciting season. I am hoping to continue the momentum that we started to create in 2025, although it feels like a lifetime ago now since I last drove the car in VIR. But really just excited to continue with DXDT Racing and Corvette and most importantly, with Bosch with my electronic braking system and my hand controls that help make the whole thing possible.
“I’s not going to be easy. In a way, I almost felt more prepared last year, even though it was my first race in the Corvette. The last time I’ve driven the car was at VIR in early August. I am confident we have the right people to get up to speed quickly and hopefully we can have more success in Long Beach.”
The technology including the Bosch hand-braking system that Wickens uses, continues to evolve.
“Well, I think the thing to remember is that my actual controls that I am using are unchanged. But where we continue to evolve from the first test last year in Sebring and through all five of the sprint rounds was we were constantly developing the software to give me more feedback and more sensation from the braking system,” Wickens explained. “That continues to change and evolve.
“That’s been kind of at the forefront of everything; how do I gain that kind of resolution to be more accurate with my braking applications at all different kinds of brake pressure? It’s not every track you don’t break fully into the ABS every single time,” he added. “Each corner, each track brings its own challenges and that’s kind of what we’ve constantly been working on and tuning. It’s been a really fun journey and to have people like Bosch alongside me and the amazing men and women that support my program…
“I’m honored to represent them. It’s exciting to kind of see it all grow and hopefully in the future we can create a product that the next generation of disabled drivers can use.”
Wickens believes he and Fillippi will be competitive in the five races they run this season.
“Obviously Mason and I already have great chemistry. We talk every day. We were scheming and plotting throughout the whole winter on how we could be teammates for the full season together,” Wickens said. “Alec Udell was my teammate last year for the sprint races – an amazing driver and an amazing person. But there was always that get-to-know-you phase that we had when we first started working with each other where with Mason that’s just eliminated. I have a really good idea of how to communicate my feedback and driving styles and everything already, so we can hit the ground running in Long Beach.
“It’s an exciting time. I feel like our driver lineup for the sprint races with DXDT Racing and Corvette is a strong one. I think it’s one that we can challenge for a lot of good results. We’re all just excited to get going. For me, it’s been what feels like an eternity of an offseason. I think it’s one of the longest I’ve ever not driven a car, so I’m just excited for the opportunity.”
