An electric Corvette? And it's all-wheel drive? Yeah, it's bloody fast, too
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Winnipeg Free Press
10-07-2025
- Winnipeg Free Press
Canada's Wickens to drive feature race at home 7 years after crash left him paralyzed
BOWMANVILLE, Ontario (AP) — Robert Wickens' promising racing career seemed as if it was cut tragically short after a 2018 crash left him paralyzed from the chest down. But almost seven years later, Wickens is racing in the headline event of the Chevrolet Grand Prix, competing at the highest levels of his sport in Canada for the first time since that accident. The event is at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, a course Wickens grew up around and where his dream of becoming a professional race car driver first began to take shape. 'It's been a long time since I've raced a home race as the headline class,' Wickens said Thursday. 'The Toronto Indy in 2018 would have been the last time, and thankfully, we finished on the podium there.' Racing IMSA GTD, the highest class of the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, on a track where he used to watch his heroes compete as a boy, is a full-circle moment for Wickens. 'I raced a lot of the cart track just next door, and when I wasn't on track, I'd ride my bike over to the car track and watch whatever car was driving around,' Wickens said. 'Whether it was a IMSA race weekend or a regional kind of Formula Ford race, or a Canadian NASCAR race, anything in between. 'I feel like I knew every inch of this track, even though I didn't drive it much.' Wickens' professional career officially began in 2005 when, at 16, he started racing in Formula BMW USA with Team Apex Racing USA. As a result, he didn't spend much time at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park like many Canadians in motorsport do, instead cutting his teeth in the United States and Europe before graduating to IndyCar in 2017. After getting a full ride with Schmidt Peterson Motorsports at the start of the 2018 season, Wickens was named the Indianapolis 500 rookie of the year that May after leading two laps and finishing ninth in the race. Wickens continued to thrive that summer, finishing third at the Honda Indy Toronto on July 15, 2018 and climbing to sixth in the IndyCar rankings. Disaster struck just over a month later, on Aug. 19, when he sustained a serious spinal cord injury in a catastrophic crash during the ABC Supply 500 at Pocono Raceway that left him partially paralyzed. Using hand controls, Wickens resumed driving after his injury and, this year, began racing a Corvette for DXDT Racing in the Sprint Cup of the IMSA SportsCar Championship. Back competing at the highest levels of North American motorsport, Wickens said 'it's amazing' to be part of the Chevrolet Grand Prix. 'I love the added attention of a hometown race,' he said. 'I think any racing driver wants that spotlight moment. You want to be the quarterback in the fourth quarter at the two-minute warning with the game on the line and the ball in your hands.' Wickens' goal for the Chevrolet Grand Prix is straightforward: run a mistake-free event. 'I think in the IMSA WeatherTech, SportsCar Championship, you can't expect success, you have to work for it,' said Wickens, noting that Corvette has won 13 races at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park since 2001. 'You have to be perfect. 'So far, in my few races that I've done in the Corvette, we've shown a lot of potential, but we haven't been perfect, and because of that, we haven't gotten the end result.' Because Wickens is racing on home soil for the first time since his accident, he's offering all kinds of unique fan experiences through his website. That includes a tour of DXDT Racing, a personal tour of his Corvette Z06 GT3.R with his custom-made Bosch electronic hand control system, and a photo op on the track. Wickens has also organized a viewing section for anyone who wants to join outside of Turn 2, his favorite place to watch races at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park when he was growing up. 'It's such a family sport. It's a lot of parents that love the sport, it's generational fandom,' Wickens said. 'I think it's so important when you see kids around that they just have a great experience because that was me growing up, right? 'I remember my first Toronto Indy, or my first time at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park and meeting drivers and getting autographs and seeing the car firsthand and just how welcoming it's always been. Now I feel like it's my turn with the baton to run that back.' ___ AP auto racing:
Toronto Star
05-07-2025
- Toronto Star
An electric Corvette? And it's all-wheel drive? Yeah, it's bloody fast, too
The Corvette E-Ray is the first-ever hybrid and all-wheel-drive Corvette. William Clavey flag wire: false flag sponsored: false article_type: : sWebsitePrimaryPublication : publications/toronto_star bHasMigratedAvatar : false :
CBC
13-01-2025
- CBC
Ontario teen works to raise money for new wheelchair van with community cookbook
John Ray of Kenilworth, Ont., has been using his mobility van to get around for about 10 years — and it's at the verge of completely breaking down. The cost to replace it is $100,000. It's money the family doesn't have right now. So the 15-year-old is trying to help pay for a new van by selling copies of his first cookbook, called Big John's Farm Fresh Recipes. "We have sold just under half of or maybe just over half of the books," Ray said, adding each copy is being sold for $25. Ray has lived all his life with congenital muscular dystrophy. Because of his condition, he needs a wheelchair to get around and it's too big to fit in a regular vehicle. His family bought the mobility van to drive him around, including to medical appointments in other cities. The van has a larger interior, which fits Ray's motorized wheelchair, and also has a wheelchair ramp and a lowered floor to create extra headroom. The mobility van the family currently has is 10 years old and it has More than 200,000 kilometres on it. High costs According to MoveMobility, a mobility equipment supplier based in Winnipeg, Man., accessible vehicles can range from $92,000 to $180,000. Ray says the high cost of mobility vans is a big problem for many across Canada who need to use a wheelchair. He says individual needs can drastically increase the cost of the van needed. "We need something with better supports inside the van for the extra weight of my wheelchair and we need space because I'm growing and my wheelchair is getting bigger," Ray said, explaining why they need to buy a $100,000 model. "Wheelchairs or vans or other equipment like therapeutic bikes and standers and walkers ... Everything is just so outrageously expensive and the government doesn't help enough for people to afford this stuff." Disability rights activist Steven Laperrière, who is the director of the Montreal-based group Regroupement des activistes pour l'inclusion au Québec, spoke to Radio-Canada for a similar story of a Quebec family needing a mobility van. He said fundraisers are helpful considering the steep cost of a mobility van. "If you don't have your adapted vehicle for your son or for yourself, it makes it very difficult to move around," he said. "The moment you use a wheelchair as a means of mobility, you have no choice but to have [a mobility van]." Cookbook focuses on healthy food Ray says his cookbook is focused on healthy family recipes. "Our family sells vegetables and meat at the farmers market at Mount Forest and in Toronto, so all the recipes have at least one ingredient in it that you can buy at the farmers market," he said. Ray's mom, Trina Reid, says she was impressed when she saw the final product. "I can't believe he did this at 15 years old," she said proudly. "People love them. They just think, 'There's a spice guide: that's so neat! There's a conversion chart: that's so cool!' And they love the recipes," she said. "People really are excited about it." She says people can look forward to trying out some of their traditional family recipes. She says Ray also asked community members to share and include their favourite family recipes. "There are German recipes in there. There's great-granny's butter tarts. There are a few very long-standing recipes," she said. Ray says members of the community have been eager to help. "Lots of people around the town wanted to help. Even if they don't buy a book, they just donate and help the cause," he said. "A lot of my friends my age actually bought books, whether it be gifts for the grandparents or parents. A lot of them bought books which I wasn't expecting." Ray is hoping to publish a second issue by the end of 2025.
