Markham Indy race president apologizes after botched opening day disappoints fans

Marcus Ericsson, of Sweden, centre, celebrates after winning the 2026 Honda Indy with second-place Romain Grosjean, of Switzerland, left, and third-place Will Power, of Australia in Markham, Ont. on Sunday, Aug. 16, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Keito Newman

The president of the Ontario Honda Dealers Indy at Markham is proud of how the event came together, but he’s sorry that most fans went home disappointed after the event’s opening day.

Jeff Atkinson said that setting up the track around the streets of downtown Markham, Ont., for the first time and getting it approved by safety inspectors from Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile, the world governing body for motorsports, was the event’s biggest challenge. 

His team wasn’t able to get the course finished until early Saturday morning, forcing Friday’s full day of on-track activities to be cancelled.

“We know we disappointed a lot of the people that were here on our Ontario Honda Dealers present Free Fam Friday, and for that we’re sorry,” said Atkinson on Wednesday. “We’re sorry that we weren’t ready to have race cars on the track on Friday.”

It was the first year Markham hosted the event after it was moved from Toronto’s Exhibition Place, where it had been held since 1986. Markham is contracted to host the event for the next four years.

FIA certifies tracks every three years unless there is a major change to the course configuration or it moves altogether. The former street track around downtown Toronto’s fairgrounds had been repeatedly certified and was in good standing.

Because the new 12-turn, 3.52-kilometre track in Markham was built for the first time last week, it needed a full inspection to make sure it met FIA’s standards. The temporary course ran between Kennedy Road, Enterprise Boulevard, the Unionville GO tracks and Highway 407.

The event hosts the only IndyCar Series event in Canada, but also has races for other vehicle classifications like the USF2000 Championship, USF Pro 2000, Radical Cup Canada, and NASCAR Canada Series. 

Friday was meant to be the first day of practice for IndyCar, with practice, qualifying and races scheduled for the other classes. Off-track activities like simulators, concessions and vendors remained open as the track was worked on.

With that first day cancelled, Saturday hosted 12 hours of on-track events for all the classifications, including both practice sessions for IndyCar and its qualifying session.

Sweden’s Marcus Ericsson won the race on Sunday.

“We missed the mark on our Friday offering. We know our fans enjoyed our vendors and our exhibitor area, but there’s a lot of stuff we continue to improve on, and we will moving forward,” said Atkinson, who works for race promoter Green Savoree Racing Promotions. 

“We’ll be talking to our fans and our festival goers, getting their feedback and continuing to build this event in Markham because we know this venue is much easier to get to for many of our attendees that come to the event.”

Access to public transit was one of the event’s major selling points, with Atkinson and Markham Mayor Frank Scarpitti both noting that Unionville GO station was incorporated into the build-out. Its parking lot houses the double-sided pit lane and a grandstand, and the station gave spectators easy access to the site.

“I think the sweet jewel on the transportation side for fans was coming into the Unionville GO station by GO train, and really being dropped off at centre ice,” said Scarpitti. “It’s one of the reasons Green Savoree chose Markham.

“Seventy-one per cent of the people that went to this race had an easier commute with this site, and that was important as well.”

Scarpitti confirmed in February that the city’s capital spending for the race had exceeded $12 million, primarily for one-time infrastructure upgrades such as road repaving. The higher-quality tarmac drew praise from several IndyCar drivers.

“Let me talk about the track,” said second-place finisher Romain Grosjean during his post-race news conference. “Amazing, Markham. Thank you for having us. The pavement was great. The racetrack is great. The organization has been good. 

“The track has been fun to drive. (...) Smooth tarmac like this makes the racing so much nicer for us compared to some other places.”

The Ontario government announced on July 27 that it had invested $1.5 million into the event. A spokesperson for Ontario’s ministry of sports declined comment for this article and directed The Canadian Press to Green Savoree.

The Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario announced July 31 that it had invested $3.5 million in the Indy. Evan Solomon, the minister responsible for the agency, praised the event’s impact in a statement provided Wednesday by his spokesperson.

“The Ontario Honda Dealers Indy at Markham brought thousands of visitors, fans and businesses together and showcased Markham as a destination capable of hosting major international events,” the statement said. “Our government is proud to support the City of Markham’s efforts to leverage this event to drive economic growth, attract investment and create opportunities for local businesses and workers.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 19, 2026.