Seven years after a life-altering IndyCar crash, Robert Wickens set for motorsports return at the ‘highest level’

Robert Wickens will be seen driving at Long Beach this weekend as he will be driving at the 'highest level' of sports car racing on Saturday. Wickens is all set to accomplish a major accomplishment as he gears up to participate in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race on Saturday. He will be driving DXDT's Corvette Z06 GTR 3.

Wickens was involved in a horrific crash in 2018 at the Verizon Indycar Series at the Pocono Raceway, which left him paralyzed in the lower half of the body.

While talking to Bob Pockrass of Fox Motorsports, Wickens spoke about how it would be a dream come true to race at this division 10 years later as well.

"[This] is the highest level of sports car racing here in North America. ... 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," Wickens said.

Wickens will be driving the car alongside Tommy Milner and will use the specially developed hand-controlled throttle and braking system developed by Bosch and Pratt Miller. These brakes will be mounted onto the steering wheel, making the transition from hand-controlled to pedal-controlled brakes simple.

Prior to racing at IMSA, Robert Wickens raced at the Michelin Pilot Challenge with Bryan Herta Autosport, where he won a championship in 2023. He returned to racing in 2022 with Bryan Herta Autosport at the IMSA Touring Car Class finale of the Michelin Pilot Challenge setting a milestone for himself.

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When Robert Wickens tested the Formula E car at the 2024 Hankook Portland E-Prix

The Michelin Pilot Champion, Robert Wickens tested the Formula E car at the 2024 Hankook Portland E-Prix. The 35-year-old was involved in a racing incident that left him paralyzed ending his IndyCar career prematurely.

After the horrific accident, the testing was his first time stepping into a single-seater. Wickens stated that he hoped this testing would help him eventually get into Formula E (via Formula E):

“It was such an amazing opportunity to drive the GEN3 car yesterday," Wickens said. "Formula E has been a series that I’ve been keeping a close eye on for quite a while, but I never knew how I could get myself into the series. A huge thanks to Formula E and SPARK for their ingenuity and for developing a hand control system for me to drive the car in Portland. It was only a few laps, but I thoroughly enjoyed the experience, and it left me wanting a lot more. Hopefully this will lead to more opportunities in the future and possibly a rookie test.”

The Formula E GEN 3 car that Robert Wickens tested for a duration of 11 laps was reported to be a much lighter and more powerful model as compared to its predecessors.