Now that Robert Wickens has become a fully-fledged Verizon IndyCar Series driver following his move to Schmidt Peterson Motorsports in 2018, the Canadian is looking at his other options to race in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship before and after his primary series next season.
The Canadian is making his return to single seater racing in 2018 following a six-year stint in the DTM Series with the Mercedes-Benz squad, but with the Rolex 24 at Daytona and the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring taking place before the IndyCar season begins, as well as Petit Le Mans taking place after its conclusion, Wickens is looking at his options to join the field in all three events next year.
Wickens has a long-standing relationship with Mercedes and could race again with the German marquee in future GT events, but for now, he is concentrating on finding a ride in the top class of the North America-based series.
“If I could be the third driver for a team, ideally in a DPi or P2, that’s what I’ve been searching for because I’d like to go for the overall win,” said Wickens to RACER.
“Mercedes and I have left on good terms, and hopefully we can find each other again in the future, maybe in GT racing, but if I look in North America, with the IndyCar season as my primary championship, getting to do Daytona and Sebring before our season begins, and Petit Le Mans after it’s over would be ideal.”
Wickens feels his platinum rating will prevent him racing in the GT Daytona category, so his focus is on racing in the Prototype class so teams in GTD do not have to adjust their line-ups just to accommodate the Canadian.
“I’m a Platinum, so with the way the ratings work, it isn’t ideal in GTD with how a team would need to adjust its other drivers to have me in the car,” said Wickens.
“I just know that being a Platinum isn’t good for GTD, so I’m concentrating on prototypes.”
