Robert Wickens went into his first race of the season in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship at Long Beach with a simple goal: “To leave with our heads held high.” The Canadian undoubtedly did that over the course of his maiden event aboard a Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R specially adapted to allow him to drive […]
Robert Wickens went into his first race of the season in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship at Long Beach with a simple goal: “To leave with our heads held high.” The Canadian undoubtedly did that over the course of his maiden event aboard a Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R specially adapted to allow him to drive with hand controls. But there was also a feeling of what might have been for Wickens and team-mate Tommy Milner.
The positives included the 2nd generation electronic brake system developed by Bosch Motorsport proving “flawless from start to finish” during the 100-minute race. It allowed him to show his pace competing at this level of motorsports for the first time since returning into professional racing after his life-changing accident in IndyCar back in 2018.
Wickens ended up fastest in second free practice as he threaded his GT Daytona class DXDT Racing Chevy between the walls on the daunting 1.97-mile Long Beach Grand Prix Circuit. He then ended up just over half a second from pole position in qualifying despite a side-swipe from another car on his hot lap — he completed his lap with damaged suspension.
“It was all sunshine and rainbows going into qualifying,” says Wickens, a driver who has always felt an affinity with street circuits. “We thought if we do everything right and play our cards right, we have a shot at pole on debut. Frankly, if you had told me that last week, I would have said you are dreaming.
“But we ended up eighth. The electronic hand control system from Bosch was doing everything I needed it to do. That’s why it hurts that we didn’t get to maximise my qualifying.”
Wickens regards the system developed by Bosch for the Corvette as a breakthrough that has allowed him to take the next step of his racing comeback with a programme in the five IMSA sprint races aboard the Corvette. It is, says Jordan Smart, motorsport application engineer at Bosch Motorsport, “deeply integrated with the car”.
The brakes on the Hyundai TCR car in which Wickens returned to competition in IMSA’s Michelin Pilot Challenge support series were based on hydraulic braking. Now, the Bosch Electronic Brake System (EBS), explains Smart, allows the inputs Wickens makes on the controls on the steering wheel to create “a little electrical signal that is converted into brake pressure” at the wheel. “It’s true brake-by-wire.”
Wickens and Milner went into the Long Beach race on 12 April with ambitions to improve on eighth place on the grid, though with one proviso. Driver changes are an integral part of the IMSA series and DXDT knew that come the race it would lose time to its rivals in the pits.
“It just takes a little more time currently with the position we are in with Robert having to be lifted out of the car,” says Bryan Sellers, DXDT’s programme manager on the IMSA team. “We have a lot of moving pieces with getting Robert out, with getting the next driver in.”
That loss of time resulted in Milner falling to P10 from the seventh position out of which Wickens ducked into the pits. The longtime factory Corvette driver made it as high as fifth, but as he passed a BMW for that position he receives a tap on the rear that dislodges the bodywork.
Race control demands Milner pits to have the errant bodywork properly secured, the delay resulting in a 15th- place finish in class for the DXDT Chevy.
“Safety is the top priority and after having some contact our rear bumper was a little bit loose, and they gave us a black flag to pit for repairs,” explains Wickens. “Our race was more or less over at that point, so we finished whatever it was. I don’t think it tells the whole story.”
“That’s racing,” says Smart. “The system we have developed gave Robert the potential and the pace was there. That was the key takeaway for us: we provided him the tool to get to that level.”
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Factory team refines Porsche 963 setup ahead of 24 Hours of Le Mans
Photo credit: Porsche Porsche Penske Motorsport used Sunday’s test day at the Circuit des 24 Heures to fine-tune its three factory 963 hybrid prototypes ahead of the 93rd 24 Hours of Le Mans. With temperatures just above 20 °C and light clouds, the team completed 194 laps—covering 2,643 km—across two three-hour sessions. Drivers reported a […]
Porsche Penske Motorsport used Sunday’s test day at the Circuit des 24 Heures to fine-tune its three factory 963 hybrid prototypes ahead of the 93rd 24 Hours of Le Mans. With temperatures just above 20 °C and light clouds, the team completed 194 laps—covering 2,643 km—across two three-hour sessions. Drivers reported a consistently balanced car after evaluating multiple setup options and testing new components.
“It was a very productive test day, during which we ticked off a full to-do list with all three cars,” said Urs Kuratle, director of factory racing LMDh. The team ran Michelin medium tyres throughout, anticipating warmer race-week conditions. “We wrapped up the day incident-free, and the drivers provided positive feedback,” added Jonathan Diuguid, managing director at Porsche Penske Motorsport.
Photo credit: Porsche
Formula E world champion Pascal Wehrlein turned his first laps on the 13.626 km circuit in the No. 4 Porsche 963, while reserve driver Nico Müller prepared in the sister No. 5 car. Customer squad Proton Competition also logged 60 laps in its own Porsche 963. In the LMGT3 class, Manthey’s Iron Dames entry (#85) covered 872 km and the No. 90 and No. 92 911 GT3 R cars completed a combined 133 laps, using the unique mix of permanent track and public roads.
Driver feedback was uniformly positive. Felipe Nasr praised progress on brake and body-part testing, Mathieu Jaminet noted room for fine-tuning against a tight field, and Kévin Estre highlighted insights gained despite a late red-flag interruption. Manthey drivers Rahel Frey, Antares Au and Riccardo Pera all reported smooth, incident-free runs and a solid baseline for race preparations.
No on-track action is scheduled for Monday or Tuesday. Free practice and qualifying begin Wednesday, and the 24-hour race starts Saturday, 14 June at 4 pm CEST. Coverage in Germany will air on Nitro and Eurosport, with live streaming via the FIA WEC and ACO apps.
Meanwhile, Kaden Honeycutt clocked in at 38.930 seconds (184.947 mph) for the Xfinity Fastest Lap award on lap 93 of Saturday’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series event. Honeycutt finished second in each of the first two stages on Saturday, but was forced to pit road after suffering damage in the late-race flurry of cautions, finishing 21st. […]
Meanwhile, Kaden Honeycutt clocked in at 38.930 seconds (184.947 mph) for the Xfinity Fastest Lap award on lap 93 of Saturday’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series event. Honeycutt finished second in each of the first two stages on Saturday, but was forced to pit road after suffering damage in the late-race flurry of cautions, finishing 21st.
Honeycutt is now seventh in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series standings, with eight top-10 finishes in 13 races. Stewart Friesen picked up the win in Saturday’s Truck Series event.
NASCAR driver, Michigan native Erik Jones embracing life on and off the track
NASCAR driver, Michigan native Erik Jones embracing life on and off the track – CBS Detroit Watch CBS News The one week of the season that Erik Jones gets to race in his home state, the 29-year-old driver for the No. 43 Toyota made time for not only another race, but to chat with CBS […]
NASCAR driver, Michigan native Erik Jones embracing life on and off the track – CBS Detroit
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The one week of the season that Erik Jones gets to race in his home state, the 29-year-old driver for the No. 43 Toyota made time for not only another race, but to chat with CBS Detroit sports anchor Rachel Hopmayer about his new season of life on and off the track.
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Determined Effort By Custer Ends Prematurely After Getting Collected in Michigan Crash – Speedway Digest
With the Xfinity Series off this weekend, Cole Custer carried the banner for the Haas Factory team during Cup Series racing at the 2-mile Michigan International Speedway. Making his sixth Cup Series start at Michigan, Custer rolled off 24th on Sunday. 41 Cole Custer – Recap Early in Stage One, Custer was faced with challenges, […]
With the Xfinity Series off this weekend, Cole Custer carried the banner for the Haas Factory team during Cup Series racing at the 2-mile Michigan International Speedway. Making his sixth Cup Series start at Michigan, Custer rolled off 24th on Sunday.
41 Cole Custer – Recap
Early in Stage One, Custer was faced with challenges, reporting that his No. 41 Ford was loose on entry and exit, with a hint of tightness in the center of the corners. The handling made it difficult to get back to the throttle quickly off the turns. Still, Custer and the team were undeterred. As Stage One ended the team worked to dial in the HaasTooling.com Ford. Adjustments, including a round of wedge, were made to help improve stability, and give Custer the ability to attack the turns.
As Stage Two began, Custer worked to overcome adversity, He found restarts especially challenging, due to a lack of grip while trying to re-enter the throttle zone. He described the car as being “out of the track” with minimal grip, though he noted the balance itself wasn’t far off – just lacking overall feel. Unfortunately, just as the team looked to regroup and regain track position, Custer was caught in a multi-car incident on lap 68. The crash ended Custer’s day early and brought a premature close to what had been a determined effort. Custer was officially credited with a 35th-place finish.
“I don’t exactly know what transpired to get us into that situation but it just seemed like we all just ran out of room,” said Custer. It’s really disappointing from the standpoint of we want to be on the up end of things with our team right now. We want to move in the right direction in the summer time. I like we are bringing better cars to the racetrack and getting more competitive but getting wrecked on days like this, definitely sets that back.”
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Amber Balcaen Seeks Collaboration for Upcoming Efforts in the NASCAR Canada Series
Amber Balcaen, currently competing part-time in the ARCA Menards Series with Nitro Motorsports, has logged two starts this season, finishing 29th at Daytona before improving to 16th at Talladega. Now, the Winnipeg, Manitoba native has her sights set on returning to home soil to race in the NASCAR Canada Series. Eager to compete in front […]
Amber Balcaen, currently competing part-time in the ARCA Menards Series with Nitro Motorsports, has logged two starts this season, finishing 29th at Daytona before improving to 16th at Talladega. Now, the Winnipeg, Manitoba native has her sights set on returning to home soil to race in the NASCAR Canada Series.
Eager to compete in front of her countrymen, Balcaen is making her pitch to sponsors loud and clear. As she previously revealed during a segment on The Social CTV, carving out a career in NASCAR as a woman requires not just grit and performance, but relentless pursuit of sponsorships.
Balcaen recently took to LinkedIn with an open call for collaborators and brands ready to ride shotgun on her next chapter. She wrote, “I’m excited to announce that I’ll be racing in Canada this summer!…
“I’ll be on track for a few key races in the NASCAR Canada Series and the Ontario Sportsman Series, and I’m opening up limited opportunities for both primary and associate sponsors to come on board. This is a great chance for Canadian companies to align with:
A values-driven underdog story
A strong and growing personal brand (340K+ social media followers)
National media coverage and visibility
Meaningful B2B and community engagement opportunities
If you’re a Canadian brand looking for authentic representation, increased exposure, and a powerful partnership, you know where to find me. Let’s make this a winning summer.”
Balcaen has long shouldered the financial weight of her racing career, often self-funding through her business ventures. But competing in the NASCAR Canada Series seems to be bringing new demands, which is maybe why Balcaen is seeking additional sponsorship dollars to stay competitive.
Balcaen’s racing roots trace back to the dirt ovals where both her father and grandfather made their mark. From there, she clawed her way through the NASCAR regional ranks, earning Rookie of the Year honors, bagging a race win, and steadily climbing the ladder. But Balcaen also acknowledged that talent alone isn’t enough.
“It costs millions of dollars to race,” she had said, emphasizing that aspiring drivers must prove their worth both behind the wheel and in boardrooms. The 33-year-old had to learn how to be a businesswoman before being a race car driver, a journey that, by Balcaen’s estimate, has seen her raise approximately $67 million to date.
A values-driven underdog story
