IndyCar “incredibly disappointed” as Markham’s Friday action cancelled with track not ready

Credit: Travis Hinkle

IndyCar has been forced to postpone its opening practice session for the inaugural street race in Markham, Ontario, with the new street track not ready for action on Friday.

The IndyCar running was initially delayed by three hours from its planned start time of 15:00 ET (20:00 BST) to 18:00 ET (23:00 BST) before its eventual cancellation. The support series - USF2000, USF Pro 2000, Radical Cup Canada and NASCAR Canada Series - also did not take to the track, with their intended practice and qualifying sessions postponed. 

IndyCar Practice 1 will now be run at 10:00 ET (15:00) on Saturday, which was supposed to be the start time of Practice 2. In hand, the second practice session has been pushed back to 14:30 ET (19:30 BST), which means qualifying will now run at 18:30 ET (23:30 BST) and reverts to its standard format rather than single-car runs in the Fast Six.

“IndyCar 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 IndyCar president Doug Boles in a scathing 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 apologise. Once we hit the track, we believe the circuit will be spectacular. We would like to thank the city of Markham for the major support it has made to provide IndyCar a layout, which is fast, technical and will put on a terrific show on Sunday.”

Reports of the 12-turn, 2.19-mile street circuit’s incompleteness started to emerge en-masse on Thursday afternoon, when teams and drivers had arrived at the facility and the planned track walk was promptly postponed until early on Friday morning.

A large amount of the track was still missing walling, fencing and tyre barriers, while the pit exit was reportedly unfinished, footbridges rremained under construction, branding was missing and timing lines were still being installed. An entire night of work ensued, which saw the track looking in more complete shape for Friday’s rescheduled track walk but still with significant work ongoing.

This meant Friday commenced with immediate delays, with USF2000 initially having been scheduled to open track running with their practice session at 09:00 ET (14:00 BST).

With fans packing the grandstands - free to access on Friday - despite the lack of on-track action, a first statement was eventually released from the event at 13:42 ET (18:42 BST) on Friday, essentially one day on from the revelations that the track build was far from done.

“We apologise for today’s on track delay,” it read. “Thank you for a great turnout for Free Fan Friday. We hope to get race cars on track soon, when it is appropriate to do so. In the meantime, please keep enjoying the activations and great food and beverage selections on site. We will provide an update when we have more information about the schedule.”

It was then 48 minutes later, half-an-hour before the start time for Practice 1, that there first came official word from IndyCar, announcing that the session was “on hold” indefinitely.

“Once the race promoter has completed the track build,” their statement said, pointing towards the behind-schedule work of Green Savoree Racing Promotions, “and IndyCar deems the circuit safe and appropriate for competition, the first on-track session of the weekend will begin. Further updates will be provided throughout the afternoon.”

IndyCar had wanted at least one of the support sessions to run on the track before its own debut session on the circuit. But after the news that IndyCar’s practice session was to be moved back by three hours, which was confirmed at 15:00 ET (20:00 BST), the support series continued to be sidelined. 

Confirmation of the day’s wholesale postponement ultimately came within half-an-hour of the rescheduled start time for IndyCar practice, with track work still not complete and the circuit lacking approval from the FIA for its present safety standards. This update came shortly before 18:00 local time, with frustrated fans, teams and the rest having waited all day to no avail.

It marks a rocky start for IndyCar’s new Canadian street race, which this year replaces the long-standing and popular Toronto event, and a tough look for its seasoned promoters. IndyCar is continuing to monitor the ongoing circuit construction by its promoters.