On October 13, Canadian Robert Wickens and his team won a car racing championship, the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge. What you need to know is that Robert Wickens has been a paraplegic for five years. And he’s only been back on the track for a year.
Auto racing fans may have already heard about Wickens’ accident, which occurred on August 19, 2018 in an IndyCar race at Pocono. By wanting to overtake an opponent at 7e turn, the Ontario pilot, then 29 years old, hit the fence head-on; all four tires, as well as a large part of the bodywork, were torn off following the impact. What remained of the car rolled several times before coming to a stop.
Wickens suffered a series of fractures, including one to his spine, as well as a spinal cord injury. He lost the use of his legs.
The rest of his story is remarkable. Admirable.
Robert Wickens never even thought about stopping running, he tells The Press in an interview by Zoom. “I told myself I was going to race a few months later,” he says with a smile.
Wickens was 7 years old when he started karting. At age 10, his biggest dream was to become a professional pilot. He achieved this dream. And it’s not his accident that would put an end to it.
When you love a sport, it’s your passion, and something like this happens, it’s just a step backwards. It doesn’t change much. […] It was more about what it would look like and how we would go about it.
Robert Wickens
The call
The call came in 2021. On the line was Bryan Herta, a former professional driver, “a really good guy” whom Wickens had gotten to know when he raced in IndyCar.
Herta has a team, Bryan Herta Autosport, which competes in the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge championship. The question he asked Wickens was simple: “Do you want to race again?” »
“Obviously, I didn’t hesitate. I said: “absolutely”. »
Months passed without Wickens hearing any further news from Herta. Then one day the phone rang again. It was Herta and his business partner, who invited him to go test the car of another paraplegic driver, Michael Johnson, a Hyundai Elantra TCR which works with a manual control system.
“His family was nice enough to let me use the car, which was operated by the Bryan Herta team,” Wickens said. That’s where the adventure really began, because it showed me that I could do it. »
In 2022, he returned to competition.
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The Hyundai Elantra TCR driven by Robert Wickens
The system
Robert Wickens knew, deep down, that he had not forgotten how to drive. Still, he had to learn to drive with a completely different system than the one he had always known.
“I press the accelerator, I also change gear and I brake with my hands on the steering wheel,” he explains. So there’s a lot going on.
“I think what people don’t understand is that there’s no brake assist. You know, on a road car, you have like a brake booster to help you generate the brakes. […] Anyone can brake as much as possible.
“I try to do that just by squeezing with my hands, which is impossible. But we have a pneumatic system that helps me achieve pressure. So there are mechanical things that help, it’s no longer just a human reaction. »
This was the hardest thing for Wickens to learn. Mentally, it was “very exhausting.”
If I wanted to brake for a turn, I almost had to anticipate how long the system would take to do what I wanted to do. When a valid driver [able bodied] press the brake, the brakes are there immediately.
Robert Wickens
Otherwise, the “satisfaction of racing on a track, of going to the absolute limit”, he says, is “exactly the same” as before his accident.
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Robert Wickens had to learn to drive with a completely different system than the one he had always known.
The championship
Robert Wickens is a competitor. When he returned to racing in 2022, he did so because he knew he was capable of winning.
“Obviously I want to raise awareness about spinal cord injuries, but I wanted to do it by competing and winning. Not just parading like a pilot. I wanted to be THE pilot, not just a pilot. »
In his first year, in 2022, Wickens was doing “a little too much” on the track, by his own admission. “There were times when I was probably trying to do too much of what was possible. »
This year, the Bryan Herta Autosport team had a sensational season, finishing second on six occasions. She didn’t win any races, but consistency was key. In October, Wickens and his co-driver, Harry Gottsacker, triumphed.
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Robert Wickens and his co-pilot Harry Gottsacker
“It’s not just my work,” he says before praising the work of his teammate, the engineers and the mechanics.
Wickens makes no secret of it: he had an added satisfaction in having arrived there after everything he had been through over the past five years.
When I returned to the pits after the race, I remembered all the difficult moments of my rehabilitation. I was grateful for my support system: my wife, my family, my friends, and everything that allowed me to pursue my dream.
Robert Wickens
Then, like any proud competitor, he thought: “ What’s next? ” (what’s next ?)
“Personally, I would really like to reach the next category,” he admits. I would like to get back to the level of racing I was at when I had my accident in IndyCar. »
In an interview with CBC two years after his accident, Wickens said he was still trying to “figure out how to live this life.” Three years later, things have evolved, life has taken its course. He has just won a championship and is the father of a 16-month-old little boy.
“Sometimes I go days and weeks without really thinking that I live in a wheelchair. It’s just life now. »
Some days and situations are more difficult, obviously. But as Wickens himself says: “Everyone has their own challenges in this world.”
“I think I’m grateful to still be here. I am able to live this life. It’s pretty awesome. »