He’s back at Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the 103rd running of the world’s most famous race Sunday but now he is in a wheelchair, the result of a devastating crash at Pocono International Raceway in Pennsylvania last August. Robert Wickens’ bone-shattering, career-halting, life-changing crash at Pocono Raceway is now more than 18 months ago. ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Robert Wickens has already come so far. And I just went full throttle to see what it could do,” said Wickens, with a wide smile. “He’s incredibly motivated to get back behind the wheel of a car and I very truly believe he will. We’ve been there every step of the way, guiding and supporting and assisting in any way we can — five hours a day, five days a week to get him where he is today. His fiancee Karli Woods will be in the passenger seat. I crashed before he went up into the fence. rights reserved. Wickens developed his career in Europe after winning the North American Formula BMW USA Championship in 2006. I mean, heading to the pit lane for the first session, I thought the fans would kind of be more focused on the racecars, like I would have been when I was a fan attending a race. Wickens is sure to hear a roaring ovation from the crowd at Toronto’s Exhibition Place for Sunday’s race. Hinchcliffe, of course, has suffered his own challenges in racing. "My dream is obviously to get back into a race car again. to colleagues, clients or customers, or inquire about “I’m trying to figure out what that penalty will be if I just kept going.”. “But it’s like I’ve said, he’s never not been part of the team since August, and we’re embracing the situation. "(The outpouring of support) has been a motivation piece for me. He’s made miraculous strides, but I think being involved with the engineering and the team and technically being a consultant has been as therapeutic as the physical side of it.”. He’ll make it back. Robert Wickens says racing in IndyCar again remains his primary "dream" following the severe spinal injury he suffered in his Pocono crash last year. He calls him an inspiration. He moved to Schmidt Peterson Motorsports — half-owned by Calgary businessman Ric Peterson — in 2015 and immediately started to lobby to have Wickens join the team. The 30-year-old from Guelph, Ont., will lead the warm-up lap for Sunday’s Honda Indy Toronto in an Acura NSX that’s been modified with hand controls. The 29-year-old Canadian is right where Schmidt expected someone as determined and as resilient as Wickens to be. Mike Long, the CEO of Arrow Electronics, believes it can. I couldn’t be more proud of him. Shallima Maharaj has the story. READ MORE: Canadian IndyCar driver Robert Wickens hopes to race again after horrific crash Wickens has shared his long and arduous recovery on social media. Robert Wickens is trying to adjust to his new circumstances, getting used to taking small steps when he's used to going fast. “I have no doubt if he says he’ll walk again that he will.”. presentation-ready copies of Toronto Star content for distribution In pursuit of his goals, Wickens takes some comfort in the fact that he has the entire motorsports community behind him. Canadian couple forced to quarantine at home after being denied entry at U.S. border, Canadian snowbirds flock west as winter looms, but space is at a premium, Los Angeles Lakers clinch NBA championships after defeating Miami Heat in Game 6, NBA to return to Chinese state television following 1 year ban, ‘SNL’ parodies vice presidential debate with Biden as fly on Pence's head, NASA identifies 'asteroid' expected to become mini-moon next month as old rocket. His eyes were open so I thought, ‘OK, he’s all right,’ and I didn’t know any better ’til later at the hospital.”, Hinchcliffe said the accident “was devastating.”. All they seemed to care about was kind of me. He pointed to Sam Schmidt, a former IndyCar Series competitor whose crash in 2000 left him a quadriplegic. He’ll race again. But making it to F1 is about way more than being a good racing driver — he came from humble beginnings and, at one point, his parents sold their house to fund his racing — and Wickens wound up driving for Mercedes in the German Touring Car Championship until he got an opportunity with Schmidt Peterson. He went straight into the concrete retaining wall, a piece of the car knifed through his pelvic area, and he came within seconds of bleeding to death. It's pretty easy to find that motivation again. He surprised Woods with his latest accomplishment, reaching out to grab her shoulders for balance. On those days where I'm just not having the best day in rehab, you feel like you don't really want to put in the final three hours of your day, but then you just think about the long-term goal of me trying to get back into an Indy car. I truly believe that regardless of where my career path would have taken me, he would have ended up in IndyCar. Wickens, who isn’t even a year into what he said will be a long recovery, continues to see physical improvement. Toronto Star articles, please go to: www.TorontoStarReprints.com, The Toronto Star and thestar.com, each property of Toronto Star “It’s fantastic,” Schmidt said. Get a roundup of the most important and intriguing national stories delivered to your inbox every weekday. “Hopefully we can sway a little bit, she might have to take the lead, and I’ll just drag behind her.”. “I didn’t realize the severity until afterwards. He was second in the next race, at Phoenix, and then had a third and a fourth before the Indy 500. I think I could get on top of hand controls. Schmidt said that while others might be surprised at how much progress Wickens has made, he isn’t. "A spinal cord injury, everyone is different," Wickens said Friday at the NTT IndyCar season opener in St. Petersburg, Fla. "I'm working my butt off. Alexander Rossi, who visited Wickens and his fiancee, Karli Woods, on New Year's said, "Robbie blows me away every day.