IMSA: Unique Wickens Corvette damaged by fire

      Recently, we wrote about the return of Robert Wickens to racing, which can be considered an amazing example of willpower, as the Canadian driver suffered severe spinal injuries at an oval racetrack in Pocono nearly eight years ago, yet he managed to return to the sport.

      In 2026, Robert and his teammate Mason Filippi were set to compete in five rounds of the American IMSA championship in the GTD category in a Corvette Z06 GT3.R from the DXDT Racing team, and two weeks ago they began implementing these plans at the California track in Long Beach, achieving 2nd place in qualifying and finishing 6th in the race.

      However, this weekend they will not be able to start at Laguna Seca, as car No. 36 with the unique manual control was damaged during transport to this racetrack. But just three hours before reaching their destination, the trailer carrying the car caught fire.

      Preliminary reports suggest that the cause of the fire was a malfunction of the trailer, with the fire starting near the rear left wheel. The extent of the damage caused by the fire is being assessed, but it appears to be quite significant. First and foremost, there is no information about the condition of the manual control system developed by Bosch, which Wickens uses.

      In any case, the team is forced to withdraw from the race this weekend, but they will try to get Wickens' car ready for the fifth round of the season, which will take place at the Watkins Glen track on the last weekend of June.