Wickens Hoping to “Finally Give” DXDT First GTD Podium in CTMP

Photo: Corvette Racing

Robert Wickens said he’s hoping to help “finally give” DXDT Racing its first IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship podium finish in his return to the wheel of the team’s Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R entry in this weekend’s Chevrolet Grand Prix at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.

Wickens and full season co-driver Mason Filippi were left on the sidelines in the most recent WeatherTech Championship GTD sprint round at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca when DXDT’s transporter suffered a catastrophic fire en route to Monterey.

It resulted in a near total-loss for the David Askew-owned team, which has been forced to re-purpose its SRO America Corvette chassis and returned to competition the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen two weeks ago.

“It’s been a lot of work from the team to get ready,” said Wickens.

“They ran the six-hour at The Glen with a new car, a different transporter, different pit equipment and everything else that goes into making this circus work.

“For me, having not driven since Long Beach, I’m itching to get back at it for my home race.

“Canadian Tire Motorsport Park is always a special one, and especially when the title sponsor is Chevrolet and we’re driving a Corvette, it’s extra special.

“I think hopefully we can put on a good show for the fans and finally give DXDT their first (IMSA) podium, which is well deserved especially after all the setbacks that we’ve had.”

Wickens also lost all of his Bosch-engineered systems, which allows him to drive the car, in the fire, which resulted in a race against time to be ready for his home race.

The 37-year-old Canadian recently completed a brief shakedown to verify all of the systems were functional before the start of on-track action on Friday.

“We were all confident that DXDT could prepare another Corvette Z06 GT3.R and have it on track for Watkins Glen,” he said.

“But from my perspective, we also lost my entire braking system. All of my hand controls that were in the car were unusable.

“All the spares that were on the truck were also now deemed unusable.

“We weren’t sure at the time how much stuff would get manufactured. And obviously for the sake of reliability, that was always the most important thing given that it is a braking system, after all.

“Bosch, Pratt Miller, DXDT Racing and Corvette Racing… everyone working together to manufacture all the bits and all the spares that we need to race at a high level.

“It wasn’t easy by any stretch of the imagination but we were able to get everything into the car and installed for a shakedown last week.”

Wickens noted elements such as his HANS device and racing shoes that also needed to be replaced due to both also being damaged in the fire.

“It’s just little stuff like that kind of keeps popping up,” he said. “From the driver’s side, I lost all my driver equipment.

“The car is a much bigger thing, much more important thing. We can all buy generic suits and blank helmets and still drive the race cars.

“There was definitely a lot of communication between Laguna Seca and now, but everyone’s just excited to get back at it.”

With a career-best finish of fourth in class at CTMP last year, and coming off his last run in the car, where he scored GTD pole honors at Long Beach, Wickens feels he has momentum on his side.

“For me as a driver, I was learning each track with my Bosch electronic braking system in the Corvette,” he said of his 2025 sprint race campaign.

“And so now with a year of experience at all these tracks, my first practice feels like a continuation from how I finished the race the year before, instead of kind of learning everything all through the first two practice sessions.

“I think definitely we have more momentum now than we did last year… It was our best finish of the year finishing fourth, but we were in podium contention the entire time.

“So the goal is to try and finally get that first podium for the team.”

Wickens Initially Feared ‘Season Was Over’ After Transporter Fire

He added that he’s grateful for all of the stars to have aligned to be able to return to to the wheel this weekend, considering the herculean effort the team has had to go through over the last two months.

“There was a brief period of time where I wondered if one, that was the end of my season,” he admitted. “Then second, were we going to make it for my next race at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park?

“I think everyone has worked so hard to get to where we are now and I think the work doesn’t stop.

“We want to win in this series. We want to prove that we’re strong enough to fight for podiums and wins every weekend.

“So that’s going to be the goal here, and it’s going to be even sweeter if it happens.”

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