Robert Wickens leads again on a race track

After a heavy fall in the 7th lap of the IndyCar Pocono 500 mile race in 2018, Robert Wickens remained paralyzed. The road to recovery has been very long for the talented Canadian pilot. Through physical therapy and a lot of hard work on his part, Wickens has reached the point where he can do things previously thought unlikely. Tomorrow, Wickens will pilot a specially equipped Acura NSX with manual controls in the perspective of the IndyCar race in Toronto. An incredible feat, to the measure of whoever it is.

Thanks to his accounts on social networks, I saw Wickens working hard to get back in shape. The strength of his upper body is gradually coming back and he is now working to bring back his leg and back muscles after a year of atrophy. As surgeries and PTs continue, it's a big step forward to see Wickens back in a car.

With support from Schmidt Peterson Motorsports and Arrow Electronics team sponsorship, the Acura NSX has been converted to work with manual controls, which you can see in the Twitter video above. Arrow also helped build a Chevrolet Corvette with special orders for the team's boss, Sam Schmidt, paralyzed from the neck, to speed up and slow down by sucking and blowing on a vent pipe and guiding the movement of his head.

Thanks to all this, Wickens' optimism has been a source of inspiration, and I hope to see him again soon in a race car. At this rate, I would not be surprised to see him in a GT car next season. Do not forget that BMW built an M8 GTLM car for Alex Zanardi to run without legs at Daytona 24 in January. When we want we can. And Wickens definitely has the will.