Canadian IndyCar driver Robert Wickens breathing on own after wreck
MADISON, Ill. — Canadian IndyCar driver Robert Wickens was breathing without medical assistance and began speaking with his family Saturday for the first time since his harrowing wreck at Pocono Raceway.
Schmidt Peterson Motorsports made the announcement shortly before the start of the IndyCar race at Gateway Motorsports Park. The team is only fielding James Hinchcliffe’s car for Saturday night’s race, though a backup No. 6 car that Wickens, from Guelph, Ont., had driven this season was parked outside the haulers.
Many drivers, crew members and fans were wearing “RW6” hats and T-shirts as they signed a “Get Well” sign in the paddock, and cars were carrying stickers that read “Better Stronger Faster.”
“The team has a very strong character, a very strong culture. Everybody rallies around and rallies through it,” Schmidt Peterson general manager Piers Phillips. “The general spirit was been awesome and that’s something here at SPM we’ve always tried to build from the start of the season.”