Schmidt Peterson Motorsports announced today its lineup for the 2018 Verizon IndyCar Series season that will feature an all-Canadian driving duo of James Hinchcliffe and Robert Wickens.
Hinchcliffe has renewed his contract with the Indianapolis-based team with a multiyear extension. The five-time race winner and 2016 Indianapolis 500 pole sitter will enter his eighth Verizon IndyCar Series season in 2018 and fourth with SPM.
Wickens joins the team following six successful seasons driving for Mercedes-Benz in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters (DTM) series in Europe. Wickens did fill in for Schmidt Peterson Motorsports for a practice day at the KOHLER Grand Prix at Road America in June, when former SPM driver Mikhail Aleshin had visa issues and could not be at the track.
Hinchcliffe, 30, and Wickens, 28, will form the first all-Canadian full-time team in Indy car racing since 2004 when Paul Tracy and Patrick Carpentier drove for Forsythe Racing in Champ Car.
Wickens won six DTM races in his six seasons, but he cut his teeth in open-wheel racing prior to making the shift to touring cars. The native of Guelph, Ontario, won the Formula BMW USA championship in 2006 and Formula Renault 3.5 title in 2011.