Wickens: Nerves “Calmed Down” After Green Flag for TCR Title

Photo: Mike Levitt/IMSA

Robert Wickens said his nerves “calmed down” after the green flag of Friday’s Fox Factory 120 once their nearest championship contender hit trouble and put the No. 33 Bryan Herta Autosport Hyundai Elantra N TCR in prime position to claim the TCR title.

Wickens and co-driver Harry Gottsacker celebrated the team’s fifth consecutive IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge drivers’ and teams’ championship, and Wickens’ first in a dramatic season-ending round Friday at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta.

It came after their nearest championship rival, the class pole-sitting No. 17 Unitronic/JDC-Miller Motorsports Audi RS 3 LMS TCR of Chris Miller, dropped out of the race on the opening lap after a drivetrain-related issue.

The Canadian, who won his first title since sustaining spinal cord injuries from a NTT IndyCar Series accident at Pocono Raceway in 2018, drove the closing stint in the BHA Hyundai, knowing he had to achieve a top-eight finish to be crowned champion alongside Gottsacker.

“I think from the moment the 17 [car] had their issues at the beginning of the race, our entire mindset towards the race shifted. It became just protection,” Wickens said.

“We didn’t need to get on the podium, we didn’t need anything. We just needed to be in the top-eight.

“For me, I was just leaving a lot of margin, barely hitting apex curbs, exit curbs, just to try to keep the tires, the splitter fresh in case there was a late safety car or anything that could come in.

“I know this weekend we’ve been bending some wheels on apex curbs so I was making real sure that wasn’t going to be the case for us.

“The second I put my helmet on before I got into my stint, the goal was top eight, it wasn’t anything more than that.”

The title for Wickens and Gottsacker came in a season where the duo failed to visit victory lane, although scoring multiple podium finishes along the way.

“If you look back through the year, there was obviously a couple that slipped away in the closing stages,” Wickens said. “When you watch replays, maybe I could have done things differently.

“I much rather have this feeling right now than the short term ecstasy of winning a race.

“It doesn’t bother me at all. It bothers me in the moment when you lose a race late. To stand here as champions, to me it doesn’t matter at all [we didn’t win a race].”

When asked what kind of statement it makes for winning a major IMSA title given the hurdles he’s had to overcome in his return to racing, Wickens admitted that he felt like he was back last year, which was highlighted by two class victories.

“This year, I felt like I was just a more ironed-out professional and I think the results speak for that,” he said.

“Harry and I, we barely put a wheel wrong all year and when we did, we put our head down and we corrected our wrongs. That’s what got us in championship contention and made the difference.

“I don’t know what that means for my career moving forward but I’m very proud of what we’ve achieved this year in particular because I know this year was a much harder year than it was for us last in terms of car performance and competition.

“Going into this season, the entire top-three in TCR scored more points to date than the champion of 2022 did at the same time. It goes to show that a lot of good people were scoring points throughout the way. It wasn’t a runaway.

“It was a nerve-wracking day but for us, the nerves calmed down quite a bit right after the green flag, which made our lives a little easier.”

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John