Set your watch as today Robert Wickens drives the famous plaid Porsche in IMSA iRacing ProSeries e-sports
TODAY’S THE DAY WHERE CANADIAN ROBERT WICKENS COMES HOME TO PFAFF MOTORSPORTS WHERE EVERYTHING STARTED FOR HIM
“I’ve known of Pfaff Motorsports since I was 11 years old,” Wickens says. “Racing in the Ron Fellows Karting Championship, Pfaff was influential in that series. The ability to have prize money for pole position, and the driver of the day awards was such a cool thing for all Canadian drivers. It allowed so many young Canadians to gather and compete in the same series, and I gained a lot of great experience from it. It’s really cool nearly 20 years later to come full circle and work with Chris Pfaff and the entire team.”
Round four of the IMSA iRacing Pro Series gets underway from virtual Road America this Thursday, May 14, at 6:00 PM ET. Viewers can stream the main broadcast and Robert Wickens’ feed live on the official IMSA YouTube channel and www.twitch.tv/robertwickens, respectively. For more info, visit http://www.IMSA.com.
Since the 2018 accident, Robert has been working and training hard through his rehabilitation in anticipation of a return behind the wheel. He has shown so much motivation and dedication throughout. The use of simulator and iRacing has enabled him to stay in touch with the driving aspect. Using a SimCraft APEX1 simulator at home, Wickens has been working closely with the manufacturer to test and develop innovative hand controls that can be further developed by the Arrows McLaren SP IndyCar team, Arrows Electronics, and McLaren for real-world racing and driving applications.
“It’s a global team effort,” Wickens says. “On the IndyCar side of things, between Arrows Electronics and McLaren, we have some phenomenal resources. Especially for Arrows Electronics, they’re always thinking five years out and how they can better the world, so this is a great opportunity.”
Wickens practiced over the weekend to get to understand the virtual Motul Pfaff Plaid Porsche RSR. He has not built too many expectations for his first race but will for sure wear the plaid colors during the event.
“The great thing with Pfaff is that they’re racers down to their bones. I think that’s obvious,” he says. “They’re just a great group of people to deal with. I’ve had the plaid for a while now. I like it, the fans like it, and it’s been a great trademark and a way to bring people together. It’s very cool to be racing together for these events, so I’m very much looking forward to getting underway.”
For Pfaff Motorsports’ team manager Steve Bortolotti, that determination was a major motivator to sign the driver for the remaining three rounds of the IMSA iRacing series.
“We’re very excited for Robert to represent Pfaff Motorsports and our partners for the remaining IMSA iRacing Pro Series events,” he says. “We’ve admired his accomplishments both on and off the track for many years, so when the opportunity presented itself to work together in the iRacing series, it was a no-brainer.”
Bortolotti says Pfaff will provide engineering and strategy support to assist with chassis setup, as well as live race strategy during for all three events.
Make sure to tune in and cheer on Robert Wickens and the plaid Porsche RSR tonight, Thursday May 14th 6pm EST. Click on the link above to follow the action.
Image credits: Robert Wickens & iRacing
