Even at his lowest, Robert Wickens rarely stopped smiling

Twitter – Wickens celebrating win at Watkins Glen:

The road back to victory lane started shortly after the devastating IndyCar accident at Pocono in August 2018. He spent a week in a medically induced coma and had to give numerous broken bones time to heal, but two months later he had entered physical therapy.

Scarring on his spinal cord from the damage suffered in the accident meant that while nerve impulses could reach his legs, his muscles needed to be re-taught to respond to his brain. While initially optimistic that he could return to full mobility, he recently said that he will likely require a wheelchair permanently, or at least until further developments in spinal cord research.

Still, the idea of not driving a racecar was never a consideration for someone who wanted to do nothing else since he started carting at the age of seven.

For inspiration to make his way back, he had his IndyCar team boss Sam Schmidt, who 14 years after his own paralysis-causing accident in 2000, had been able to get behind the wheel of a semi-autonomous car at  Indianapolis Speedway.

Wickens also was able to practice hand-controlled racing by participating in the increasingly more realistic sim-racing world, where he was joined by many top racers during the pandemic sports shutdown. In a series of YouTube videos, he showed how he worked with racing simulator developer Simcraft to develop a fully hand-operated setup that would allow him to control a virtual racecar.

Twitter – Wickens’ sim racing setup:

The next step was to adapt the virtual racing he was doing to the real world. He had already driven on the parade lap of the 2019 IndyCar event at Toronto, using a hand-controlled Acura NSX which was being developed along with Arrow Electronics, the sponsor of Schmidt’s IndyCar team.

As the racing world resumed normal post-Covid operations in 2021, Wickens got his first chance to test a car built for racing, taking a Bryan Herta-owned Hyundai Veloster N TCR around Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, where the IndyCar Series races this weekend.

The car had been adapted with hand controls for Michael Johnson, who after losing use of his legs in an accident at age 12 had returned to racing and was competing in the Michelin Pilot Challenge touring car series. With Johnson’s help, Wickens went through the process of making the mental adjustments of driving without pedals, and in January of this year, Herta announced that Wickens would be joining Herta’s team for the 10-race season.

For once, Wickens wasn’t smiling - because this wasn’t just for fun, this was getting back to work.

Twitter – Wickens announces return to racing:

Wickens had always adapted to new racing series quickly, and it was no different this time. His first race resulted in a third-place finish at Daytona, followed by an emotional podium celebration.

Then this past Sunday after having qualified third, Wickens drove the first half of the race before turning the car over to his teammate with the lead in their class. Fellow Canadian Mark Wilkins took care of the rest, holding on to win by less than a second.

Wickens will be the first to tell you that this isn’t a peak – it’s a milestone. Of course, the immediate focus is on the remainder of the Pilot Championship season – winning the championship is not out of the question. but it will require dominating the remainder of the season.

After that, Wickens will likely once again try to climb the motorsport ladder. A return to IndyCar is not feasible for the foreseeable future, as the current cars lack power steering and more importantly have hydraulic brakes, which would require major modifications to the car to allow for hand controls.

An overseas series would likely conflict with his continuing physical therapy. Stock cars could be a possibility – adaptive controls for NASCAR cars are already in development. Or moving up to higher levels of sports cars.

A 26-year-old recently drove a NASCAR Cup car using nothing but his mind.

Whatever series decides to employ the charismatic Canadian, they can be certain they’ll be getting a special driver – and a ton of smiles.