First day of Ontario Honda Dealers Indy at Markham cancelled due to incomplete track

The inaugural Ontario Honda Dealers Indy at Markham had a misfire at the starting line.

The first day of practice and qualifying at the only IndyCar event in Canada was cancelled on Friday because the track was not completed and officials couldn't do a final safety check. Organizers said they will try to squeeze all of the first day's track sessions into Saturday's schedule.

It's the first year Markham has hosted the event after it was moved from Toronto's Exhibition Place, where it had been held since its inaugural running in 1986.

Mark Coburn of Kitchener, Ont., and Scott Stobo of Waterloo, Ont., have been attending the race for 20 years and drove to Markham on Friday morning.

Coburn said it was "good and bad" that the practice and qualifying sessions had been 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."

IndyCar and the City of Markham announced the move from downtown Toronto last September. The temporary circuit, built for the first time this week, runs between Kennedy Road, Enterprise Boulevard, the Unionville GO tracks and Highway 407.

Some of the incomplete features included a pedestrian bridge over Enterprise Boulevard that would connect parking to the main spectator compound 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 a kind of 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 the event. Four days later the federal government announced it had put in $3.5 million.

Markham Mayor Frank Scarpitti confirmed on Feb. 20 that the city's capital spending for the race, primarily on one-time infrastructure upgrades like repaving the roads, had exceeded $12 million.

Fridays at Canada's IndyCar race are free with spectators encouraged to donate what they can to the Make-A-Wish Foundation instead of buying a ticket. There were thousands of fans around the Markham track with the temperature reaching 26 C or 31 with humidity.