It has been six years since a horror IndyCar crash at Pocono left Robert Wickens with spinal injuries and fractures to his arms and legs.
His racing return back in January 2022 saw him secure a podium at Daytona in the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge.
Since then, he has been working to secure a berth in Formula E – including a run in an adapted Gen3 car in June.
But the journey has been a long one, having documented his recovery well on social media, sharing multiple steps of his journey on the way.
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Robert Wickens has ‘bags of talent’ as Formula E looms
Formula E CEO Jeff Dodds revealed to The Race that he backed the plan of Wickens to return to open-seater racing after his Gen3 demo.
“Robert’s spirit is remarkable and he’s got bags of talent that he is using to continue a career he loves,” he said.
“What I want to see now and in the future is drivers like Robert competing on merit at high levels of racing. Inclusive sport is a must for me. These stories are so human and inspiring that they deserve to be told and continued.
“This run isn’t just for fun. It’s part of something, and Robert has the tenacity to do special things in this car and potentially future cars. It’s exciting.”
Despite missing the final three races of his rookie IndyCar campaign in 2018, he had still performed well enough to earn the Rookie of the Year award.
It’s worth noting that he also served as Manor Marussia F1 team’s test driver in 2011 – a year where they had a line-up of Timo Glock and Jérôme d’Ambrosio.
Wickens reveals ‘talks’ with Formula E outfits
The 35-year-old Wickens shows no signs of hanging up his racing gloves any time soon – in fact, he appears hungrier than ever to get behind the wheel of an open-seater racing car again.
“There’s definitely teams that I’ve been in talks with from a casual or formal manner,” he said.
“I’ve been fortunate enough to live a life that I have friends or colleagues or former engineers or team principals of various people in various places. A lot of them know what my ambitions are, but it’s always been how we take this first step and that’s what [the Portland test] is.
“I want to do a comparable job for myself as a competitor that when I’m leaving the track tonight I can have my head held high and know that I didn’t leave an opportunity behind me.”
He hopes to be assessed on a level playing field with other drivers in November when Formula E has its rookie test in Valencia.
If he can impress, as a win in the TCR category drivers’ championship of the Michelin Pilot Challenge in 2023 suggests, he could compete at the front of the electric racing series.