Simpson looking forward to "difficult and technical" new IndyCar track

Credit: Paul Hurley

IndyCar heads to a brand new street track this weekend in Markham, Ontario. Chip Ganassi Racing driver Kyffin Simpson walks through what he knows about the track and what to expect from the weekend.

Since IndyCar hasn't raced this circuit yet, and indeed the track itself is still undergoing last minute preparations ahead of the 15:05 ET start time for Free Practice, the only experience any driver's have on the streets of Markham is in the simulator. But even just running through the layout in the simulator has given drivers like Simpson a good idea of what to expect.

The Caymanian driver met with the media earlier in the week to discuss his upcoming weekend in Canada.

"Seems exciting," said Simpson, discussing what he seen of the Markham street track already. "Seems like it's going to be difficult and very technical. We'll only really know for sure once we get there. The sim just really helps you to turn left so you don't get lost on the streets. It's helpful. I'm really just excited to get there and see it in person for the first time."

The simulator can only tell a driver so much, and while it's helpful to give driver's an idea of where to turn and when, it isn't going to give you a good idea of how the track surface will behave, or any other considerations a simulator can't take into account. But Simpson has been able to pick up on certain key qualities about the new track, like the technical nature and the suprising elevation change that isn't typical of a street circuit.

"It seems tricky, that's for sure," Simpson said about the layout of the Markham track. "It looks like a very technical track, which isn't usually my kind of track so much. I love all sorts of different challenges and tracks. I feel like once we get there in person it's probably going to be a lot cooler than looking at a track map.

"Yeah, I'm excited for it. I'm excited to see kind of the elevation change that it seems like it has. That seems like a cool aspect for a street course that we don't really have anywhere else.

It's going to be interesting to see what the passing opportunities are like. I feel like it looks like it's going to be difficult to pass, but you might just have some big sends in the race."

Credit: James Black

As far as prepping for the upcoming race weekend, preparing for a race you've never raced before is different than preparing for a track you're familiar with. There's no old race footage to watch, no old data to look over, no memories to be shared. Unsuprisingly, the simulator is key to preparation for weekends like these. And fortunately, this isn't the first time this year that drivers have had to prepare for a brand new street circuit. IndyCar's inaugural trip to the streets of Arlington, Texas, gave them a taste of what they're looking forward to this weekend (and next weekend when they take on the streets of Washington D.C. for the first time).

"Yeah, I mean, we look into it as much as we can," said Simpson. "Run a lot of sims on everything, what they think the best setup is going to be, what they think the best way to drive the track is going to be, all those fun calculations that they do. They do a great job at it.

"I think in Arlington we did a great job with all that stuff, showing up to the track with a car that rolled out of the trucks being pretty good. If that's a sign of how things are going to be here in Markham, I feel like we're looking pretty good."

Evening out the playing field

For younger, less experienced drivers like Simpson, coming to a new track can be daunting. Fortunately, Markham is a new track for the whole field, so he's not alone in facing an unknown this weekend.

Speaking to DIVEBOMB about how new tracks can even out the playing field, Simpson commented: "Yeah, I think it evens it out a little bit. I think the people that just have experience in the series, that still helps. But when you go to a track that no one knows, it's more about who can learn it the fastest. That is a skill that you develop over the years. That's something you can kind of learn. Sometimes experienced guys have that skill very well-developed.

"It does kind of even the playing field. That's one thing that I feel like I'm fairly good at, is learning tracks. Hopefully that's good for me. Hopefully when we get there, I can try to push the envelope and be up front."

If Simpson's right, and the playing field is a little bit more evened out for new tracks, we're in for an exciting few weekends. Following the street race in Markham, IndyCar heads to the nation's Capital to celebrate America's 250th birthday with a race on the streets of D.C.

Will Álex Palou continue his run of dominance, or will we see someone suprising step out of the shadows to conquer these two new tracks?