MARKHAM – The first-ever Ontario Honda Dealers Indy in Markham hit a snag right from the start.
The initial day of practice and qualifying at Canada’s only Indy Car event was called off on Friday because the track wasn’t finished, preventing officials from conducting a final safety check. Organizers announced they would try to fit all of Friday’s track sessions into Saturday’s lineup.
This is the first year that Markham has hosted the event after it was relocated from Toronto’s Exhibition Place, where it had been held since its launch in 1986.
“Indy Car is incredibly disappointed that our promoter was not able to complete the track build on time, despite significant support from our team on site,” said Indy Car president J. Douglas Boles in a statement. “Ontario has always been a magnificent market for our sport and the number of spectators that attended today is a shining example of that.
“New events can always pose logistical challenges and we join in the frustration of our loyal fans and apologize.”
Mark Coburn of Kitchener, Ont., and Scott Stobo of Waterloo, Ont., who have attended this race for 20 years, drove to Markham on Friday morning. Coburn described it as both “good and bad” that practice and qualifying sessions were delayed.
“Like good, I can understand that you want a safe track, and safety comes first because it’d be horrible to have an accident and put a bad mark on things,” he said about 30 minutes before the day was officially cancelled. “Obviously, it would be nice if they did all these checks before today, so at least it could run smoothly.
“There’s been nothing all day today, unfortunately, on the track, which is the attraction and generates interest for fans and new fans, especially in the area.”
Indy Car along with the City of Markham announced their move from downtown Toronto last September. The temporary circuit built this week runs between Kennedy Road, Enterprise Boulevard, the Unionville GO tracks and Highway 407.
Some unfinished aspects included a pedestrian bridge over Enterprise Boulevard meant to connect parking with the main spectator area as well as ports cut into safety fencing for marshals to wave hazard flags through.
“It does feel like from the start that being at Markham feels a little random,” said Stobo. “In the ‘burbs, in kind of an industrial park.
“I was hoping they’d go to Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (in Clarington, Ont.) or something.”
The Ontario government announced on July 27 that it had invested $1.5 million into this event. Just four days later, the federal government revealed its contribution of $3.5 million.
Markham Mayor Frank Scarpitti confirmed on Feb. 20 that spending by the city for race preparations-including one-time infrastructure upgrades like road repaving-had exceeded $12 million.
Fridays at Canada’s Indy Car race are free entry with spectators encouraged to donate what they can to Make-A-Wish Foundation instead of buying tickets. Thousands showed up around the Markham track with temperatures reaching 26 C or feeling like 31 C with humidity.
“The thing here being maybe a newer development is that there’s not much shade,” said Stobo. “There aren’t many chairs available either.”
“That makes spending time outside pretty tough without many indoor options compared to what we had at Exhibition Place.”
Off-track activities like driver autograph sessions went ahead as planned.
This Saturday will see longer hours at the venue since Indy Car will conduct both its practice sessions along with its qualifying round throughout the day. Due to time limits later in evening hours, qualifying will follow its traditional knockout format used for road courses.
“Once we hit the track, we believe this circuit will be spectacular,” said Boles. “We would like to thank city officials in Markham for their major support providing Indy Car with a layout that’s fast and technical which will result in an exciting show come Sunday.”
The weekend races will also feature USF2000 Championship events alongside USF Pro 2000 races as well as Radical Cup Canada and NASCAR Canada Series competitions around this road course.
“We talked this morning about maybe coming back after today,” said Stobo. “I think we’ve had our fill.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first Aug. 14, 2026.
John Chidley-Hill, The Canadian Press
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