MARKHAM – August 16th, 2026
The late‑summer sun hung over downtown Markham as crowds filled the grandstands and pressed against the fencing lining the brand‑new 12‑turn, 3.52‑km street circuit, a temporary ribbon of asphalt carved between Kennedy Road, Enterprise Boulevard, the Unionville GO tracks, and Highway 407. For the first time, Markham, not Toronto, hosted Canada’s lone IndyCar Series stop after a four‑decade run at Exhibition Place. The sense of novelty was unmistakable. Fans arrived early, eager to witness a new chapter in Canadian motorsport history. The view from the grandstand at turn five displayed a very entertaining tight hairpin turn.
The paddock still buzzed with the fallout from Friday’s embarrassment: a full day of running was scrapped when safety inspectors deemed the circuit incomplete. Overnight, crews scrambled to finish barriers, fencing, and runoffs. By Saturday morning, the track finally earned FIA approval, but the frustration lingered.
Predictions of “carnage” materialized early... Louis Foster (#45), dominant in practice and qualifying, clipped the inside wall on Lap 43 and slammed into the outside barrier, a violent end to what had looked like a breakthrough weekend.
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