Wickens returns for Daytona race

Nearly four years after a life-threatening crash, Canadian IndyCar driver Robert Wickens will return to racing at Daytona International Speedway on Jan. 28.

The Guelph racer and Mark Wilkins of Toronto will co-drive the No. 33 Hyundai Elantra N TCR in the Michelin Pilot Challenge season opener, a four-hour endurance event kicking off the Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona weekend.

The car will be fitted out with hand controls for Wickens that can be disengaged when Wilkins is behind the wheel.

The Canadians will drive for Hyundai Motor North America on a team entered by Bryan Herta Autosport. Herta, a veteran of IndyCar and sports car racing, was keen to sign Wickens after the driver, a paraplegic since his 2018 IndyCar crash, showed he hadn’t lost his desire to race or skill in the cockpit. He tried out a Hyundai Veloster N TCR at the Mid-Ohio course last May.

“Today is a monumental day for us as a team and as fans of Robert Wickens,” Herta said in a release.

“I’ve spent a lot of nights thinking and dreaming of this moment, and with the support from Bryan Herta and Hyundai it is all becoming a reality,” said Wickens. “I am hungrier now than I was before my accident to compete for wins again. I’m really looking forward to incorporating myself with the entire Bryan Herta Autosport team and to finally get my first taste of the Hyundai Elantra N TCR.”

During a press conference Friday, Wickens said his recovery “had pretty much plateaued. I’m not regaining any more muscle function, so it looks, unfortunately, like I’ll be in a (wheel)chair for the rest of my life … as long as modern medicine and science stays where it is.”

I am hungrier now than I was before my accident to compete for wins again.

ROBERT WICKENS