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Yahoo
19-03-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Robert Wickens Checking 'a Massive Box' in IMSA WeatherTech Series
Robert Wickens' return to top level of racing will be in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. He's slated to team with two-time GTLM champion Tommy Milner and race for DXDT Racing in the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race at the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach April 11-12. Wickens will team with veteran racer Milner to pilot a specially equipped Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R with a state-of-the-art hand-control braking system. Ever since Robert Wickens was critically injured in an August 2018 IndyCar crash at Pocono Raceway that left him paralyzed, he's been on the comeback trail. And while Wickens had already made it back to racing—he's raced a TCR car and tested a Formula E car, to name just two elements, among others, of his return—the leap he's about to make to the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship is definitely next-level. This week, Wickens is testing a specially equipped Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R with a state-of-the-art hand-control braking system at Sebring International Raceway. It's all part of Wickens' return to top-level racing. He's slated to team with two-time GTLM champion Tommy Milner and race for DXDT Racing at the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach April 11-12. Wickens plans to race in the IMSA sprint races this season with designs on a full-season run at the series championship in 2026. "I think this is a big step for me to officially get that fulfillment—I want to be a full-time contender in the WeatherTech series," Wickens said in a media call on Wednesday. "But 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, 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, but I think you can say it's definitely a massive box checked—probably the biggest box that we could check off so far in my return." The 36-year-old Wickens will be making his first start in the GTD class and first start in the IMSA WeatherTech series since the 2017 Rolex 24 at Daytona where he raced with Ben Keating, Chris Cumming, John Falb, and Remo Ruscitti in a Starworks Motorsport entry. Making this return to the big stage possible are the efforts of Bosch, General Motors, Pratt & Miller, and DXDT Racing. The team's Corvette Z06 GT3.R has been equipped with special hand controls that allow Wickens to control the electronic braking and throttle with hand controls that top anything the driver has experienced since his accident. "I think the biggest takeaway I have so far is that it feels like the Bosch EBS and the hand-control system that was developed by Pratt & Miller, it's like it belonged in this car," Wickens said midway through his second day of testing. "There hasn't been a single hiccup. It feels like when they designed this, this Z06 GT3, it's like it belongs in the car. "Immediately, I felt way more comfortable with the braking feeling and braking sensation than I even 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 and also Pratt & Miller and DXDT for collaborating to make this all possible." To get ready for the Sebring test and return to the racetrack, Wickens spent countless hours in the simulator. "Racing on my home simulator, not only is it very fun, but it made my dexterity and kind of my resolution on my hand for throttle application, in particular, just stronger and stronger," he said. "And I think after driving this Corvette Z06, I feel like the next step for me is actually to start doing more throttle application with my right hand, just to build that muscle memory. "For people that don't know, I pretty much do like 98% of the throttle application with my left hand. So that way I can freely upshift with my right hand, and then brake with my right hand, downshift with the left hand type of thing. With this car, like turn 7 (at Sebring), there's a few corners here where I feel like I need to start practicing using throttle with both hands a little bit more. "But the home simulator, it definitely didn't hurt. The brake that I use on my home simulator is very different to what we have in the race car, but for throttle purposes, I think it's very helpful." One of the first questions for any sports-car tandem in the WeatherTech series when one driver faces some of the challenges that Wickens does—and with the added technology in the race car—is how will this affect the crucial in-race driver changes. Milner says it won't be an issue on race day. "In Robbie's case, he has to do all of his driving with with his hands," Milner said. "Him being paralyzed from the chest down, he has no use of his feet, really. The systems are basically set up so that he can do all that with the steering wheel itself. And there's a brake ring, there's a throttle, throttle paddles, and those obviously take the place of what I would normally use in the pedal box. "The system is quite impressive with how it functions and how it works. With just one push of a button, the system switches from the able-bodied driver controls to the hand controls, which obviously is important for sports-car racing where we have driver changes. "It'll be especially important at Long Beach, (with) the driver change being a pretty important part of the race, because that typically ends up being kind of the limiting factor in the pit stop. The tires and the fuel typically take a little bit less energy, take a little bit less time. "Robbie obviously comes from a place where he has the sports-car racing experience, where he's had to do those driver changes. So from that side, there's no real limitations, so to speak. He knows what he needs to get out of the car." Milner added that it's hard not to be inspired by Wickens' return. Milner even called it "an honor" to be a part of it. "His drive and determination is pretty incredible," Milner said. "It's pretty inspiring to see that, and I'm excited to go racing with him at Long Beach."
NBC Sports
27-01-2025
- Automotive
- NBC Sports
What's next for Felipe Nasr after second Daytona dandy? Le Mans awaits ... and maybe more
After putting Nick Tandy in the history books with a second consecutive Rolex 24 victory, Felipe Nasr immediately was thinking about payback upon parking the No. 7 Porsche 963. As they celebrated on the podium in victory lane at Daytona International Speedway, Nasr leaned over with a simple request for his Porsche Penske Motorsport teammate. 'I said, 'You've got to help me win Le Mans now,' because those big races are extremely difficult just to be there at the end,' Nasr said. 'There's so many things happening during the race. I've never seen Daytona that cold and the transition at night, the cold tires. Just surviving and staying on the track was a challenge, honestly. It was a real challenge for the drivers today. Nate Ryan, 'But for sure, Le Mans is a dream list of mine for sure. I'm a little jealous of Nick, in a good way, of everything he's accomplished so far. I think for sure Le Mans is the next goal, and why not do it this year.' Tandy already had an overall victory at the 2015 24 Hours of Le Mans, which is why his first overall win at Daytona was so significant. As Nasr carried the load for the final two hours in zooming from third to first and leading the final 14 laps, Tandy shared a checkered flag (with Nasr and third co-driver Laurens Vanthoor) that made him the first driver in history with overall wins in the world's four major 24-hour events: Daytona, Le Mans, Spa and Nurburgring. 'To be the first person ever to do something is quite unbelievable, really,' said Tandy, who won the GTLM class of the Rolex 24 in 2014. 'First of all, you've got to be proud that you've been put in a position to be able to compete in those sort of races, and then be in a car that can compete for the win. 'But yeah, it never really dawned on me about these sort of records until when we won at Spa (in 2020) and somebody said, 'Well, you've got class wins in all the four majors now.' And then you look into it and see there's legendary names on these lists who have won various things but never overall in all four. 'It's something that since that day in 2020 I've definitely wanted to check off the list. … To get the big four 24-hour wins. One would be just an incredible career, so to be able to get four is dream come true stuff.' Now the Le Mans dream becomes Nasr's. With a win this June in the world's biggest sports car race, the Brazilian can become the first driver in 15 years to win the unofficial 'triple crown' of endurance racing: Daytona, Le Mans and the Twelve Hours of Sebring (which Nasr won in 2019). But even bigger is what a Le Mans victory could mean for the career of Nasr, who is highly experienced in major-league motorsports but still only 32 years old. Team owner Roger Penske is missing only Le Mans from his storied resume. If Nasr could deliver 'The Captain' another crown, it's worth asking what's next for a star who will have little left to prove in sports car racing – and has shown to be a phenomenal talent in single-seater open-cockpit racing. Nasr raced two Formula One seasons with Sauber F1 before moving full time to the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. Though yet to make a start in the series, he also has flirted with IndyCar, having tested a few years ago. With Penske having the boundless connections to broker seats in the Indy 500 or NASCAR (and with his IndyCar lineup still needing to be finalized beyond 2025), it's easy to imagine Nasr on the short list if opportunities materialized. With another heroic closing double stint Sunday, Nasr certainly has earned the organization's trust as its lead sports car star. He logged 8 hours, 47 minutes (short of his GTP-leading 9-plus hours last year tops for the No. 7) and stamped himself as the most consistent, fast and tactically sublime driver. 'If you look back at the data, all three of these guys up here were performing at an extremely high level so there wasn't a wrong choice,' Porsche Penske Motorsport managing director Jonathan Diuguid said when asked about how the team went with Nasr at the finish. 'Obviously Felipe had a history of success, so he probably got the football to carry it across the finish line there and deliver it again for us. 'To see that happen two years in a row and see the defense he put on for the last 30 minutes of the race is always really exciting.' It could be an entrée to seeing even more in the future of Nasr. In the final 40 minutes, he passed pole-sitter Dries Vanthoor, outdueled teammate Matt Campbell in a fierce battle for the lead and then fended off two-time Rolex 24 winner Tom Blomqvist. 'I knew the car was capable,' Nasr said. 'I knew we had a great team behind us. Working with Laurens for the first time this weekend was very straightforward, trouble free. We all have different personalities but very professional. No one did a foot wrong all weekend, and we're all celebrating this victory. 'On a personal level, doing it back-to-back, it's incredible. Just inside, it's one for the memory for sure.'
