Even if it didn’t lead to a win, Robert Wickens’ opening drive at the IMSA Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach on Saturday won’t soon be forgotten.
Almost eight years since Wickens’ life-changing spinal cord injury sustained in an IndyCar Series race at Pocono Raceway, Wickens led the first 25 laps from pole position in the specially-adapted #36 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R, and beamed with joy after his stint.
This was his first race after a long eight-month racing layoff, as Wickens hadn’t raced since the 2025 round at VIRginia International Raceway. He had hoped to land a full-season ride in IMSA for 2026, but those plans fell through due to a lack of funding, and Wickens returned for another five-race sprint calendar with DXDT Racing. If there were any signs of race rust, they didn’t show this weekend.
“To be honest, that was a fairy-tale stint,” Wickens declared after his opening drive. “The Corvette Z06 GT3.R was just so nice to drive around this track. Every lap is a dream.
“It was a good stint and a little fortunate with Danny Formal having a mechanical problem, and then I don’t know what happened to the #57 (Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG), but suddenly we had quite a decent amount of space behind. We were a little nervous for our driver change on if we would lose time or at least maintain status quo. So the goal for me was to build a gap, just in case.”
Both Formal in the #45 Wayne Taylor Racing Lamborghini Huracán and Russell Ward in the #57 Winward Mercedes-AMG conceded second place behind Wickens due to their respective troubles – power loss for the #45, and a mechanical black flag for the #57 as it failed to meet minimum tyre pressure requirements.
The target before the pit stop was a four-second delta to cover any potential time loss in the driver change, and Wickens had an even bigger lead as he drove down pit lane.
“Mason (Filippi) did an amazing job (during the driver change), and I am pretty sure I just found out we had the fifth-fastest in the pit lane. I’ll take that all day,” Wickens added.
The pit stop happened just before a full course yellow, and Mason Filippi retained the net lead for DXDT Racing once the race resumed. In just his sixth IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race, the Michelin Pilot Challenge graduate and perennial TCR standout had the advantage on a track where passing was difficult.
But Aaron Telitz in the #12 Vasser Sullivan Racing Lexus was able to maximize his restarts, and overtook Filippi for the lead.
Things went from bad to worse for Filippi when Robby Foley in the #96 Turner Motorsport BMW moved past Filippi, edging the Corvette against the wall. The loss of momentum allowed Albert Costa’s Conquest Racing Ferrari, Corey Lewis’ Gradient Racing Ford, and Andrea Caldarelli’s Pfaff Motorsports Lamborghini Temerario to pass him in rapid succession, dropping from second to sixth.
“We were all right on the pace all weekend,” Filippi said. “We got stuck driving behind some of the lap traffic there and got into it a little bit with the GTP car at the fountain. Then we got pushed into the wall pretty hard by another car. When that happened we lost kind of all of the momentum. Since it was right after a restart, everyone kind of came through.
“It’s a bummer, you know, for the team. They did a fantastic job this weekend. We’ll get it. It is what it is, but go to the next one and aim for the front again.”
Wickens and Filippi finished sixth. 2025 was the first year in Wickens’ career, pre- or post-injury, that he did not record a podium finish at any level of motor racing. He and DXDT managed a best finish of fourth place at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (formerly Mosport).
But the team won’t have to wait long for its next chance: WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca is only two weeks away, and brings another opportunity for that long-awaited podium or, even, victory.
Images © IMSA
