“Bittersweet,” that’s how Robert Wickens describes his season within the IMSA SportsCar Championship in 2025 – the newest chapter in his racing journey within the wake of the life-changing accidents he sustained seven years in the past. The Canadian proved he can compete within the premier sportscar sequence in North America with a automobile geared up with a brand new system of hand controls, which Bosch Motorsport has been on the forefront of improvement for.
“The issue I’ve is that I’m so aggressive that I get within the mindset of ‘I must do higher, this isn’t adequate for all of the work everybody has finished to get me right here’,” says Wickens, who contested the 5 IMSA SportsCar Championship dash occasions on the wheel of a DXDT Racing Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R. “I don’t wish to be only a particular person on monitor – I wish to be aggressive.
“I at all times need extra from myself. If I get on the rostrum, it could not [be] adequate as a result of I didn’t win. And if I gained, it could be: ‘effectively, we didn’t run the right technique’ or perhaps I made a mistake throughout the race.
“I sort of neglect to take [a] step again generally and realise what I’ve completed, like my spouse Karli tells me on a regular basis.”
Wickens completed loads in 2025 with the GT Daytona class DXDT Corvette, which was shared with Tommy Milner after which Alec Udell. Among the many achievements was a top-three qualifying place and a fourth-place end, however he want to have gone a minimum of one higher than that.
“It kills me that we haven’t bought on the rostrum but,” he says. “I can’t bear in mind a time of me once I haven’t stood on the rostrum over the course of the season.
The one which hurts essentially the most is the Highway America IMSA spherical in early August.
“I used to be actually happy with myself for my qualifying at Highway America,” remembers Wickens, who took fourth on the grid in GTD. “We lastly bought that swagger within the automobile I used to be in search of. We have been main for the ultimate hour of the race after which within the dying minutes we simply sort of bought caught out slightly a bit, and from there we stored getting kicked once we have been down. We ended the race P8 – it was a giant blow for everybody.”
However Wickens’ performances over the course of the season have offered validation of the arduous work put in by Bosch and Corvette Racing along with its technical accomplice, Pratt + Miller. That a lot was clear from the primary day trip with the Corvette at Lengthy Seaside in April.
#36 DXDT Racing Corvette Z06 GT3.R: Robert Wickens, Alec Udell
Picture by: Brandon Badraoui / Lumen through Getty Photographs
“Lengthy Seaside was the large one for us,” says Jeff Blair, Bosch technical knowledgeable – motorsport software program. “Getting that first one beneath our belts at all times, to see that we have been aggressive, feels actually good.”
Jordan Sensible, Bosch motorsport utility engineer, provides that the Californian avenue circuit wasn’t the best place to begin: “That was arduous mode!”
Bosch hasn’t simply proved the expertise employed on the DXDT Corvette, which contains an digital braking system (EBS) for the primary time. It has captured the creativeness of race followers attending IMSA occasions.
On the Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, Wickens’ residence monitor, a particular fan zone was arrange the place spectators may be taught in regards to the system.
“I didn’t know if I used to be going to get two visitors or 200,” he says. “It ended up being successful and is certainly one thing I’m attempting to construct on for years to return.”
Sensible has one other story about how Wickens’ step as much as the premier IMSA championship after three seasons competing in its Michelin Pilot Problem sequence has drawn the curiosity of the motorsport public. And it occurred earlier than he’d even arrived on the circuit at Lengthy Seaside!
“I used to be strolling into the terminal at Lengthy Seaside airport and with two co-workers and we had the Bosch Motorsport emblem on our backpacks,” remembers Sensible. “I overheard two folks behind saying, ‘these are the Bosch Motorsport folks; they’re doing the Robert Wickens automobile’. That’s so cool.”
The Bosch expertise is sending out an necessary message, says Jessica Dane, programme supervisor at Chevrolet on the Z06 GT3.R. “Now we have created expertise that may result in one thing greater and extra significant within the highway automobile area as effectively,” she says. “There may be a lot potential on this undertaking.”
And Wickens desires to be amongst those that exploit it. He intends to be again on the IMSA grid subsequent 12 months and “hopefully make myself a full-time contender”.
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