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James Hinchcliffe says that Robert Wickens’ input into the Schmidt Peterson Motorsports team from his rookie IndyCar season last year will remain relevant in 2019.
Wickens enjoyed a standout first campaign in which he scored several podium finishes, before he then suffered a horrendous shunt at Pocono Raceway that left him with serious injuries.
While Wickens continues to battle back to fitness, Hinchcliffe is positive that the legacy of Wickens’ first 14 races with SPM can still help the team.
SPM’s recruitment of ex-Formula 1 racer Marcus Ericsson was part of its desire to find a driver with a similar style to Wickens that would also compliment Hinchcliffe.
“IndyCar’s 2018-spec aerokits haven’t changed for this coming season and there are no major changes to the tires,” Hinchcliffe told Autosport.
“So no doubt, Robbie’s input will still be felt.
“He helped push the direction of the team, particularly with the roadcourse setups, and found a really good direction.
“Without changes to the cars, those setups will still be relevant and can pay dividends in 2019.
“And it’s absolutely our hope he’ll still be involved in the engineering side in some capacity and give us input.”
Hinchcliffe adds that his experience so far suggests Ericsson will be a close match to him on set-up following the Swede’s second test at Sebring earlier this week.
“I wasn’t there for Marcus’s first run in December,” he said, “but I heard we were pretty close, based on what the engineers saw from him.
“But even so, I was surprised to see just how close we were, now we’ve had our first chance to run together on the same day.
“In the afternoon, we tried different directions but with similar components, and our feedback was almost identical.
“Sure, it was only day one in our work together but I’m cautiously optimistic we’re on the same path.”
Ericsson will run the #7 car this year as SPM team owners Sam Schmidt and Ric Peterson do not consider him a replacement for Wickens.
The #6 car is being kept vacant until whenever Wickens feels ready to try an Indycar again.