Hinchcliffe, Wickens set for IndyCar-DTM ride swap

A unique car swap between friends and countrymen will take place over the next month as Verizon IndyCar Series driver James Hinchcliffe and Mercedes-Benz DTM ace Robert Wickens trade seats.

The Canadians will kick off the vehicle exchange on Feb. 28 at Sebring when former open-wheel standout Wickens gets his first taste of an IndyCar. The Torontonian, 27, will strap into Hinchcliffe's No. 5 Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Honda and get a taste of the cars he should have driven after demonstrating serious talent in the Champ Car Atlantic series and on Europe's open-wheel ladder.

"James and I have been friends for years and this ride swap is something we've wanted to do for a long time," said Wickens, who is coming off a career-best fourth-place finish in the DTM championship. "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."

Hinchcliffe, 30, will take his turn in Wickens' HWA-run Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM car at the Vallelunga circuit in Italy after IndyCar's season opener in St. Petersburg is completed on March 12.

"Robbie comes from a single-seater background so he's raced at one level below IndyCar, and he's going to know roughly what he's getting himself into," Hinchcliffe said. "It's been a while, so I think it's going to be a big wakeup call, and I think he'll be very impressed with what the IndyCar has to offer. For me, I'm going to a country I've never raced in, on a track I've never been to, in a type of car I've only seen in person, so I think it's going to be a much bigger culture shock for me. We're just both super excited and thankful to all the parties involved for making it happen."