Wickens Had CTMP “Circled on Calendar” for Big Homecoming

Photo: Mike Levitt/IMSA

Robert Wickens said he had this weekend’s Chevrolet Grand Prix at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park “circled on the calendar” all season as the former IMSA TCR champion takes part in his first headline race on home soil for the first time in seven years.

Wickens, who made his WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GTD debut earlier this year as part of a sprint race program with DXDT Racing, will be racing on home soil in a Sunday feature race for the first time since the 2018 Honda Indy Toronto, where he finished third at the wheel of a Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Dallara-Honda Indy car.

While boasting two Michelin Pilot Challenge TCR class wins at CTMP with Bryan Herta Autosport, they came on the Saturday bill, with the 36-year-old Canadian having been eager to show his hand in top-level competition, in this year’s limited season campaign in DXDT Racing’s Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R.

“Corvette has had so much success at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park in the past,” said Wickens. “Finishing 1-2 [in GTD Pro] last year I think sets the bar pretty high.

“Obviously it’s a home race for me, one that I’ve had circled on the calendar all season. [I’m] looking forward to just getting behind the Corvette around such an awesome track.

“I’ve had success in TCR in the past, winning there twice and finishing second and the other. Nothing comes easy and I think we just have to keep our head down.”

Wickens’ first GTD start came at Long Beach in April, where he teamed with Corvette factory driver Tommy Milner for a 15th place class finish, prior to the next round at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, where he and co-driver Alec Udell notched a top-ten.

“The first two races that I’ve done this year in the WeatherTech series hasn’t been amazing to say the least,” admitted Wickens.

“We’ve shown potential, but just at the wrong time. So hopefully we can split together a good, strong weekend from first practice right through the checkered flag on Sunday.”

While driving the Corvette around CTMP will be a new experience for Wickens, he said he’s eager to take what he’s learned in the first two sprint races of the season.

“I think you only know what you know, and ironically at Long Beach we raced on a Saturday and then Laguna was kind of my only taste of what a true kind of sprint race in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship is like,” he said.

“I think it’s kind of business as usual. It’s just racing on a different day with maybe a little more spotlight on you.

“But even when you’re running in a support category in the IMSA paddock, the fans are so great, the grid walks and everything.

“You kind of feel like you’re the headline race, even though you’re not and the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship is.

“I think it’s a highlight of the Canadian Tire Motorsport Park calendar. A lot of fans come out and we’re doing what we can.

“We’re doing a little fan experience this year, which is something I’ve never done before, seeing, kind of testing the waters on how that goes with giving them a package that that might not get necessarily and get a tour of the hand controls that are made by Bosch as well as a photo with me on the grid and hopefully on the podium afterwards.

“[There’s] lots to be excited about it and just trying to embrace a home race.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve been the headline event at a hometown race. My last was IndyCar in 2018. The Canadian fans are always passionate, always super loyal, and it’s gonna be awesome a see everybody out there.”

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