way to go, Robbie! Racer with paraplegia successfully test drives Corvette with hand controls Bosch's new electronic braking system is enabling Wickens' return to the top level. Jonathan M. Gitlin Mar 20, 2025 3:01 pm | 10 Robert Wickens tests the DXDT Corvette Z06 GT3.R race car at Sebring, Florida. Credit: Amanda Jeannette/DXDT Racing Robert Wickens tests the DXDT Corvette Z06 GT3.R race car at Sebring, Florida. Credit: Amanda Jeannette/DXDT Racing Story textSizeSmallStandardLargeWidth *StandardWideLinksStandardOrange* Subscribers only Learn moreRobert Wickens was one of motorsport's rising stars when his life was permanently altered in a crash that paralyzed him from the chest down in 2018. Ever since, Wickens has said that his goal is to return to compete in the sport at the top level, and that looks set to happen early next month in Long Beach, California, following a successful test of his hand control-equipped Corvette GT3.R race car earlier this week.The day-and-a-half test at Sebring in Florida wasn't Wickens' first time in a race car since his crash. In 2021 he tested a less-powerful front-wheel drive Hyundai Veloster N TCR car and competed in the Michelin Pilot Challenge series for Bryan Herta Autosport, winning the championship in 2023 with his teammate Harry Gottsacker in the newer Elantra N TCR car.And last year, we bumped into him in Portlandahead of his test in the Formula E Gen3 Evo car.But the Pilot Challenge series is merely the understudy to IMSA's WeatherTech championship, and in April Wickens will make his WeatherTech debut sharing a Corvette Z06 GT3.R race car for the DXDT team, together with longtime Corvette racer Tommy Milner. Wickens said he still has some work to do, like learning how to use his right hand to accelerate, not just his left. Credit: Amanda Jeannette/DXDT Racing Wickens' setup in the car is quite different from the one that we saw Alexander Zanardi use in IMSA in 2019. Zanardi, who had both legs amputated after a horrific crash in 2001, used a hand throttle on the steering wheel, and then a lever on the center console to brake. But as Wickens told me back in Portland last year, "if you want to be as competitive as you can be, you have to have the brake on the steering wheel in some capacity."It's also quite different to the adaptations made for last year's Formula E test. "The Formula E car was pretty much a temporary hand control solution where we actually just repurposed the regen paddles at the bottom of the steering wheel, so one side was for throttle and the other side was for brake. And it worked, but it wasn't effective," Wickens told me yesterday.Able-bodied co-driver Milner will use the Corvette GT3.R's regular pedals when he drives, with the hand controls engaged when Wickens is in the car. The new hand controls are mounted to the steering wheel column, where otherwise you'd find a spacer between the column and multifunction steering wheel. There are paddles on both sides that operate the throttle, and a ring that engages the brakes.The road-going Corvette C8 uses brake-by-wire, and Bosch has developed an electronic brake system for motorsport applications, which is now fitted to DXDT's Corvette. Wickens actually used the Bosch EBS in the last two Pilot Challenge races of last year, but unlike the Corvette, the Elantra did not have a full brake-by-wire system. Robert Wickens explains how his hand controls work. "When I embarked on this journey of racing with hand controls, I was always envisioning just that hydraulic sensation with my hands, on applying the brake. And, yeah, everyone involved, they made it happen," Wickens said. Adding that sensation has involved using tiny springs and dampers, and Wickens likened the process of fine-tuning that to working on a suspension setup for a race car, altering spring rates and damper settings until it felt right."You know, the fact that I was just straight away comfortable; frankly, internally, I was concerned that [it] might take me a little bit to get up to speed, but thankfully that wasn't the case so far. There's obviously still a lot of work to be done, but so far, I think the signs are positive," he said."I think the biggest takeaway I have so far is that it feels like the Bosch EBS and the hand control system that was developed by Pratt Miller it was like it belonged in this car," he said. "There hasn't been a single hiccup. It feels like... when they designed the Z06 GT3, it was always in the plan, almost? It's just looks like it belongs in the car. It feels like it belongs in the car."And that translates into lap time. "Immediately I felt way more actually comfortable with the braking feeling and braking sensation than I even had in my past, racing in TCR with the Bosch EBS. So it was a massive step forward. So hats off to all the men and women at Bosch, and also Pratt Miller and DXDT really for collaborating to make this all possible," Wickens said.A particularly cool aspect of this program is that the technology isn't just tied to the Corvette GT3.R. "I think what we're learning here today can transfer into any race car and then hopefully down the road what we're developing with the electronic braking system from Bosch, you knowopportunities are endless that maybe this can evolve into road safety and into everyday road vehicles and accessibility," he said. Robert Wickens. Credit: Amanda Jeannette/DXDT Racing In the meantime, "Hopefully we can challenge for race wins and podiums here this year," he said, although up against stiff competition in IMSA, that will require mastering not only the nuances of his new hand controls but also those of the Corvette. From there, a full-time seat in the series is his next goal."Taking the green flag in Long Beach is going to be an enormous step forward in my career and my journey back to the highest levels. Because, you know, basically, you could say we did it. We're racing against the best cars, the best drivers in the whole sports car industry. But yeah, you know, I want to win championships for myself, for General Motors, for DXDT. So, yeah, there's still some work to be done, but... probably the biggest box that we can check off so far in my return," he said.The Long Beach Grand Prix takes place on April 12.Jonathan M. GitlinAutomotive EditorJonathan M. GitlinAutomotive Editor Jonathan is the Automotive Editor at Ars Technica. He has a BSc and PhD in Pharmacology. In 2014 he decided to indulge his lifelong passion for the car by leaving the National Human Genome Research Institute and launching Ars Technica's automotive coverage. He lives in Washington, DC. 10 Comments