The Paralyzed Driver Won the 2022 Michelin Pilot Challenge Race at His Home Track to Cap a Whirlwind 10 DaysJuly 3, 2023By Mark RobinsonIMSA Wire Service Entry List (Click Here) DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Even a year later, Robert Wickens shakes his head at the thought of his racing homecoming.It was at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park in 2022 that Wickens and fellow Canadian Mark Wilkins capped a frenetic, sometimes frightening and most memorable week by winning the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge race at CTMP in the Touring Car (TCR) class. They’ll return this week to defend that victory but in different Bryan Herta Autosport with Curb-Agajanian cars.The saga began a week earlier last year at Watkins Glen International, just over the U.S. border in New York State, where Wickens and Wilkins won the TCR race – the first victory for Wickens since he was paralyzed in a 2018 IndyCar crash at Pocono Raceway. Immediately after that historic triumph in the No. 33 BHA Elantra N TCR, the duo drove north for a jam-packed week of sponsor and media commitments in their homeland leading into the CTMP race.All the while, Wickens’ pregnant wife, Karli, remained back at their Indianapolis home, not due with their first child until after the Canada race weekend. That changed suddenly on Thursday, the day before Michelin Pilot Challenge cars were to begin CTMP practice and two days before the race. A complication was noticed during an ultrasound and an emergency delivery was scheduled for that Friday.Too late to catch a flight to Indianapolis, the concerned father-to-be was driven partway home and met by his mother and mother-in-law, who drove him the rest of the way. He reached the hospital at 3 a.m., the delivery process started at 6 a.m. and son Wesley was born healthy shortly after 11 a.m.At that point, team owner Bryan Herta called to see if Wickens still wanted to drive in the race. With wife and son doing well, he said yes. A chartered plane took him back to Canada on race morning and he arrived on the grid 20 minutes before the start of the race, having not turned a lap on track.“Basically, between interacting with fans on the starting grid, I was asking Mark what gear each corner was because I didn’t even do a lap in practice,” Wickens says, shaking his head. “Then we started last because I didn’t qualify the car. Thankfully through some good strategy and some quick learning, I was able to hand the car to Mark in third (place), and then we had a great pit stop and great strategy and we got ourselves into the lead. Mark drove his ass off to get us another win!”As soon as CTMP postrace activities finished, Wickens was on another plane back to Indy and reunited with Karli and Wesley that night. “It was a crazy, crazy like 10 days!” he understated.Wickens says he plans to take more time to enjoy the race weekend and the mob of family and friends who’ll be with him at CTMP this year. He won’t be driving with Wilkins, however. The pair has been split into different BHA cars and both are in hot pursuit of the TCR championship. Wilkins is driving with Mason Filippi in the No. 98 Hyundai, with Wickens teaming with Harry Gottsacker in the No. 33 Hyundai. The two cars are tied in points atop the TCR standings leading into the race.The championship battle in the other Michelin Pilot Challenge class is nearly as tight. Kenny Murillo and Christian Szymczak, co-drivers of the No. 72 Murillo Racing Mercedes-AMG GT GT4, lead the Grand Sport (GS) class by 60 points over Robby Foley and Vin Barletta, co-drivers of the No. 96 Turner Motorsport BMW M4 GT4 who won two weeks ago at Watkins Glen.Thirty-five cars are on the entry list, 24 in GS and 11 in TCR. Following a pair of practice sessions on Friday, qualifying for the Canadian Tire Motorsport 120 takes place at 10:50 a.m. Saturday. The two-hour race begins at 4 p.m. the same day, streaming live on Peacock in the U.S. and on IMSA.com/TVLive internationally. |
