DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — On a gray day at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course three and a half years ago, race car driver Robert Wickens began a remarkable comeback following an accident in 2018 that left him partially paralyzed. That comeback ultimately saw Wickens and co-driver Harry Gottsacker capture the 2023 IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge Touring Car (TCR) class championship in a Bryan Herta Autosport Hyundai Elantra N equipped with a hand-controlled throttle and brake system mounted on its steering wheel.
Thanks to Bosch, General Motors and DXDT Racing, Wickens’ comeback will progress next spring when he makes his IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship debut in the No. 36 DXDT Racing Corvette Z06 GT3.R on what will likely be the sun-splashed streets of the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach.
Wickens likens the first outing in what is slated to be a five-race schedule of Grand Touring Daytona (GTD) class sprint events to a dream come true.
“It’s a dream opportunity,” he said. “Since I began racing again in the Michelin Pilot series the goal has always been to make it to WeatherTech. It’s going to be very difficult, I’m well aware of that. Frankly, I want to be a professional driver again as I was prior to my accident, and this is a massive step forward in that regard.”
This is what I’ve been pushing for since day 1 of my recovery. I’m excited to announce that I am entering the @IMSA Weather Tech Series in the GTD class with @DXDTRacing. None of this would have been possible without the support of the team, Bosch, GM, and so many more. pic.twitter.com/7Ou8SM9zfC
— Robert Wickens (@robertwickens) November 25, 2024
The cornerstone of Wickens’ opportunity is an electronic hand control package developed by Bosch based on its electronic brake system used in IMSA’s Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) cars. First used by Wickens in September’s Michelin Pilot Challenge race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the Bosch system eliminates the delays and friction associated with the mechanical system previously used on the Hyundai TCR and allows him to experience more consistency and faster response across the application of brakes and throttle.
“The first key is Bosch,” Wickens said. “Coming to the table with their technology and lending a hand on allowing me the chance to drive other cars.
“I always had ambitions to move up into the WeatherTech series but there was always a complicated discussion. It’s hard to try to sell myself and say, ‘Oh, by the way, you guys will have to engineer a brake system from scratch on top of everything else.’
“That’s where Bosch lent a hand, saying, ‘We have technology we believe can benefit you.’ It was the perfect partnership; the perfect match. It’s always going to be a little more complicated for me to drive each car than for an able-bodied driver, but (now) all we have to do is adapt a current system into a car. We don’t have to design something from nothing and then adapt it to the car.”
Another key element in the program is Pratt Miller Motorsports which is largely responsible for the design of the Corvette Z06 GT3.R. The team has taken the lead in adapting the Bosch system to the DXDT ‘Vette.
“Pratt & Miller’s involvement from the beginning was a no-brainer,” said Wickens. “When we were starting on this journey and adapting the hand controls, in theory we could have done it in-house at DXDT. But we’re here to have success and to do it right, and no one knows the Corvette GT3 better than Pratt & Miller.
“I was at Pratt & Miller about two weeks ago. Seeing the steering wheel concept and holding it in my hands for the first time – it became real. And to see so much hard work going on behind the scenes, I think the average person doesn’t understand what goes into making this work. It’s not as simple as it might sound and frankly, not as simple as I try to make it sound sometimes. I’m so grateful to have this opportunity and the support system around me.”
Wickens joins DXDT Racing which, in the wake of an impressive 2024 season that included eight consecutive wins in SRO’s GT World Challenge, is making its WeatherTech Championship debut this year. Thus, the team will be preparing for the Rolex 24 At Daytona and Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring with their “conventionally” controlled Corvette, even as they prepare a different Z06 GT3.R for the ’25 SRO campaign. Along the way, they’ll be working to ensure the Bosch system is fully integrated into the GTD Corvette in time for Wickens’ debut at Long Beach.
A full schedule of testing is on tap, beginning with straight line runs in January. Although Wickens faces a steep learning curve with the Corvette, he is already quite familiar with one key element in the process. Having spent the vast majority of his career racing rear-wheel drive vehicles – from go-karts to Formula 2 to IndyCar and everything in between before tackling the front-wheel drive Hyundai – he relishes the prospects of putting the power to the road via the Corvette’s rear Michelins.
“The only time I’ve driven a front-wheel drive race car is the TCR Hyundai Elantra,” Wickens said. “And the only car I’ve driven with hand controls is a front-wheel drive race car. So, I have 10 times the experience with rear-wheel drive cars and if I’m racing on my home simulator, I’m always most comfortable with a rear-wheel drive car.”
Looking ahead to his WeatherTech Championship debut, Wickens is delighted that it will be on the same streets where he nearly scored his first win in IndyCar competition. As a rookie.
“The racer in me would love to be competing at Daytona and Sebring,” he said. “But from an emotional standpoint, (Long Beach) is almost the best debut I could make given my prior career.
“It’s a fun debut to actually share a weekend with IndyCar. On the grid walk before the IMSA race on Saturday, I’m hoping there’s some good cross pollination with IndyCar staff, friends, competitors, former teammates and colleagues offering support. It’s going to make it even sweeter.”