“Bittersweet,” that’s how Robert Wickens describes his season in the IMSA SportsCar Championship in 2025 – the latest chapter in his racing journey in the wake of the life-changing injuries he sustained seven years ago. The Canadian proved he can compete in the premier sportscar series in North America with a car equipped with a new system of hand controls, which Bosch Motorsport has been at the forefront of development for.
“The problem I have is that I am so competitive that I get in the mindset of ‘I need to do better, this isn’t good enough for all the work everyone has done to get me here’,” says Wickens, who contested the five IMSA SportsCar Championship sprint events at the wheel of a DXDT Racing Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R. “I don’t want to be just a person on track – I want to be competitive.
“I always want more from myself. If I get on the podium, it would not [be] good enough because I didn’t win. And if I won, it would be: ‘well, we didn’t run the perfect strategy’ or maybe I made a mistake during the race.
“I kind of forget to take [a] step back sometimes and realise what I have accomplished, like my wife Karli tells me all the time.”
Wickens accomplished a lot in 2025 with the GT Daytona class DXDT Corvette, which was shared with Tommy Milner and then Alec Udell. Among the achievements was a top-three qualifying position and a fourth-place finish, but he would like to have gone at least one better than that.
“It kills me that we haven’t got on the podium yet,” he says. “I can’t remember a time of me when I haven’t stood on the podium over the course of the season.
The one that hurts the most is the Road America IMSA round in early August.
“I was really proud of myself for my qualifying at Road America,” recalls Wickens, who took fourth on the grid in GTD. “We finally got that swagger in the car I was looking for. We were leading for the final hour of the race and then in the dying minutes we just kind of got caught out a little a bit, and from there we kept getting kicked when we were down. We ended the race P8 – it was a big blow for everyone.”
But Wickens’ performances over the course of the season have provided validation of the hard work put in by Bosch and Corvette Racing together with its technical partner, Pratt + Miller. That much was clear from the first time out with the Corvette at Long Beach in April.
#36 DXDT Racing Corvette Z06 GT3.R: Robert Wickens, Alec Udell
Photo by: Brandon Badraoui / Lumen via Getty Images
“Long Beach was the big one for us,” says Jeff Blair, Bosch technical expert – motorsport software. “Getting that first one under our belts always, to see that we were competitive, feels really good.”
Jordan Smart, Bosch motorsport application engineer, adds that the Californian street circuit wasn’t the easiest place to start: “That was hard mode!”
Bosch hasn’t just proved the technology employed on the DXDT Corvette, which incorporates an electronic braking system (EBS) for the first time. It has captured the imagination of race fans attending IMSA events.
At the Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, Wickens’ home track, a special fan zone was set up where spectators could learn about the system.
“I didn’t know if I was going to get two guests or 200,” he says. “It ended up being a success and is definitely something I am trying to build on for years to come.”
Smart has another tale about how Wickens’ step up to the premier IMSA championship after three seasons competing in its Michelin Pilot Challenge series has drawn the interest of the motorsport public. And it occurred before he’d even arrived at the circuit at Long Beach!
“I was walking into the terminal at Long Beach airport and with two co-workers and we had the Bosch Motorsport logo on our backpacks,” recalls Smart. “I overheard two people behind saying, ‘those are the Bosch Motorsport people; they are doing the Robert Wickens car’. That’s so cool.”
The Bosch technology is sending out an important message, says Jessica Dane, programme manager at Chevrolet on the Z06 GT3.R. “We have created technology that can lead to something bigger and more meaningful in the road car space as well,” she says. “There is so much potential in this project.”
And Wickens wants to be among those who exploit it. He intends to be back on the IMSA grid next year and “hopefully make myself a full-time contender”.
We want to hear from you!
Let us know what you would like to see from us in the future.
Take our survey
– The Autosport.com Team
Read the full article here