Hinchcliffe and Wickens line up IndyCar and DTM car swap
Mercedes DTM driver Robert Wickens will test an IndyCar at Sebring next week as part of a one-off ride swap with fellow Canadian racer James Hinchcliffe
Schmidt Peterson Motorsport IndyCar regular Hinchcliffe will also get the chance to try Wickens' Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM at Vallelunga as part of the exchange.
Wickens will get behind the wheel of Hinchcliffe's car during Tuesday's group test at Sebring, one day before SPM tests sportscar ace Pipo Derani and AutoGP champion Luis Michael Dorrbecker at the Florida circuit.
Hinchcliffe will travel to Italy to sample his long-time friend's DTM machine on the final day of the series' Vallelunga test on March 17.
"This whole thing is something that Robbie and I have joked about for a long time because, frankly, we weren't sure it was ever going to happen," said Hinchcliffe.
"We both had an interest in kind of sharing our series with each other, and we kept talking about it.
"We decided we were going to try and take a swing at it, talked to all parties involved and amazingly it all worked out.
"To be able to get to do this, and share it with each other, is going to be awesome."
Wickens, a five-time DTM race winner and Formula Renault 3.5 champion, last drove a single-seater in a test for the then-Virgin Formula 1 squad at the end of 2011.
"James and I have been friends for years and this ride swap is something we've wanted to do for a long time," he said.
"We've seen some other drivers do it in the past - Formula 1 and NASCAR and all that - and we thought it would be a cool opportunity to do with DTM and IndyCar.
"It wasn't easy planning it and making everything work, but I'm really looking forward to the opportunity of driving his car.
"Everything aligned and here we are."
Previous article
Juncos Racing steps up to IndyCar for Indianapolis 500
Next article
Daytona 24 Hours winner Ricky Taylor tests Pagenaud/Penske Indycar
Indy500: Starting grid
IndyCar: Colton Herta takes victory at St. Pete
Barber IndyCar: Lap 1 Crash
Barber IndyCar: Palou wins at Birmingham
The F1 champion who became an Indy king in his second career
Emerson Fittipaldi’s decision to go racing with his brother led to him falling out of F1, but he bloomed again on the IndyCar scene. NIGEL ROEBUCK considers a career of two halves
The lasting legacy of a fallen Indycar rookie
Jeff Krosnoff was plucked out of obscurity to become a respected and highly popular professional in Japan, and then got his big break in Indycar for 1996. But a tragic accident at Toronto 25 years ago cut short a promising career and curtailed his regular team-mate Mauro Martini's passion for racing
The two key areas where Dixon needs to re-assert his authority
OPINION: Having been Chip Ganassi Racing's IndyCar focal point for the best part of a decade, Scott Dixon has been so far outgunned by new team-mate Alex Palou in 2021. After finishing behind the Spaniard at his traditional happy hunting ground at Mid-Ohio, Dixon has work to do to assume his traditional position in the team and the standings
The winners and losers of IndyCar 2021 so far
At the halfway point in the 2021 IndyCar Series season, we've had seven winners in eight races, spread between five teams – none of them Team Penske. In this unusual season, even by IndyCar standards, who’s excelling and who’s dragging their heels?
Castroneves: How I kept it under control to make Indy 500 history
Helio Castroneves’ overwhelming vivaciousness outside the cockpit belies a hardcore racer who knows how to plot his moves – and then recall it all. A day after his fourth Indy 500 win, he explained his tactics
How 'chess master' Castroneves cemented his Indy legend status
Helio Castroneves joined AJ Foyt, Al Unser and Rick Mears with the most Indianapolis 500 wins after edging past Alex Palou on the penultimate lap of a thrilling race that validated Michael Shank's faith in the veteran Brazilian - who is discovering that there is life after Penske after all
Indy 500 preview: Will experience or youth be victorious at the Brickyard?
A quarter of the drivers racing in the 105th edition of the Indianapolis 500 are former winners - but are they the favourites? The veteran drivers largely impressed in qualifying - but there's also a plethora of young guns looking to secure victory at IndyCar's flagship race...
What will it take to get American drivers in Formula 1?
The FIA says it wants American drivers in Formula 1, but would it take an IndyCar driver to transfer or does an American need to join the European junior ladder system to get there?
