“Markham, begin your engines! The Indy race is coming to our metropolis!” exclaimed an excited Markham Mayor Frank Scarpitti whereas asserting right this moment that the IndyCar Collection will transfer its Canadian occasion from Toronto to a brand-new avenue circuit in Markham starting in 2026.
Toronto’s Exhibition Place has been residence to IndyCar racing in its numerous kinds since 1986. Nevertheless, on account of logistical challenges offered by the 2026 FIFA World Cup, the occasion wanted a brand new location. In consequence, its promoter Inexperienced Savoree Race Promotions, IndyCar, and the Metropolis of Markham have joined forces to create a brand new venue. This transfer is not only a short lived resolution — the Markham occasion is a part of a multi-year settlement beginning subsequent August.
Marcus Ericsson, Andretti World
Picture by: Jake Galstad / Lumen through Getty Photographs
Markham, positioned simply northeast of Toronto in York Area, is likely one of the fastest-growing communities in Ontario, with a inhabitants of greater than 1.25 million. The race will happen in Markham Centre, the town’s bustling downtown hub, which is residence to quite a few company headquarters, York College’s Markham Campus, and the famend Markham Pan Am Centre, a key venue through the 2015 Pan Am and Parapan Am Video games.
The brand new location supplies wonderful entry for followers through Freeway 407 and different main 400-series highways, in addition to the Unionville GO Station and the VIVA Speedy Transit system. Organizers anticipate the Ontario Honda Sellers Indy at Markham to grow to be the most important sports activities and cultural occasion in York Area’s historical past, drawing over 140,000 attendees through the three-day weekend and producing tens of tens of millions in financial influence by tourism, hospitality, and occasion companies.
“It is a main milestone for the Metropolis of Markham, which formally turns into the beginning line for the Ontario Honda Sellers Indy at Markham in 2026. We’re thrilled and honored to be named because the host metropolis for this prestigious, world-class, three-day auto racing occasion,” Scarpitti mentioned through the press convention.
“Round this time subsequent 12 months, the Ontario Honda Sellers Indy at Markham will rework the streets of our metropolis right into a racing crucible, testing the bounds of a few of the world’s quickest drivers and welcoming followers from across the globe to look at all of it unfold.”
Particulars on the brand new circuit
The non permanent avenue circuit can be inbuilt Markham’s jap downtown precinct, bordered by Kennedy Highway, Enterprise Boulevard, the Unionville GO tracks, and Freeway 407. Designed by famend observe architect Tony Cotman of NZR Consulting, the 12-turn, 2.19-mile format will characteristic a double-sided pit lane, lengthy high-speed straights, and difficult technical sections. Preparatory work on the circuit and surrounding competition web site is already underway in collaboration with Metrolinx and different native companions.
“We couldn’t be extra happy to see the wealthy historical past of NTT IndyCar Collection racing proceed in Ontario,” mentioned Penske Leisure President and CEO Mark Miles. “Markham is a rising, various, and dynamic metropolis that can present a terrific showcase for our exhilarating wheel-to-wheel racing. I want to thank Mayor Frank Scarpitti for this thrilling new partnership and Jeff Atkinson and the staff at Inexperienced Savoree Toronto for his or her management. It’s essential for INDYCAR to keep up a robust reference to our Canadian followers, and we merely can not look forward to this new chapter to start subsequent 12 months.”
Jeff Atkinson, president of the Ontario Honda Sellers Indy at Markham, added: “Inexperienced Savoree Toronto is proud to announce a multi-year settlement with the Metropolis of Markham to grow to be the brand new residence of this long-standing Ontario motorsports custom. We look ahead to a robust and profitable partnership with Mayor Scarpitti, his staff on the Metropolis of Markham, and IndyCar. The inaugural Ontario Honda Sellers Indy at Markham will construct on the legacy of this occasion, which first started in 1986. We are able to’t wait to welcome our followers, the drivers, and race groups to this unbelievable new venue in Markham Centre subsequent August.”
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