Bobby Travis · NASCAR/IndyCar-Korrespondent
On a brand-new track that wasn't finished until hours before the first green flag, Álex Palou immediately posted the fastest time.
After a lost Friday when construction crews occupied the track instead of race cars, Saturday morning in Markham finally saw the action begin. The new street circuit in the heart of Markham Centre made its NTT INDYCAR SERIES debut, and Álex Palou made it immediately clear who sets the standard here. With a time of 1:14.9915, the Ganassi driver posted the fastest lap of the first practice session, cementing his position as the man of the moment in this championship.
Tight Field on Fresh Asphalt
Twelve turns, 3.52 kilometers, completely new surface. On a track that nobody in the field had ever driven before, it came as no surprise that the grid tightened up considerably. Caio Collet brought the Foyt car home just 0.0539 seconds behind Palou in second place, while Louis Foster completed the top three for Rahal Letterman Lanigan with a gap of just 0.0813 seconds.
The action continued further down the order. Scott McLaughlin and Will Power secured fourth and fifth, both within four tenths of Palou's time. David Malukas, currently third in the championship, drove for Penske into sixth and showed early that he's adapting quickly to the new layout. The top ten was rounded out by Marcus Ericsson, Marcus Armstrong, Rinus VeeKay, and Dennis Hauger, all within six tenths of the best time.
Title Contenders with Mixed Results
For Kyle Kirkwood, who sits second in the championship and is regarded as an expert on street courses, the opening hour in Markham didn't go as smoothly. Twelfth place, six tenths back from Palou, isn't a disaster on a track that's new to everyone, but it's certainly not the starting position he was hoping for heading into the weekend.
Pato O'Ward's gap was even more pronounced. The winner of Toronto's last race in 2025 at the old track, who would have loved to claim the first Markham victory, landed his Arrow-McLaren machine in 18th place, over 1.3 seconds behind the leader. Josef Newgarden closed out the order in last position, nearly 2.4 seconds back from Palou. On a completely new layout after just one session, such deficits don't tell the whole story for the weekend, but they reveal who found their rhythm immediately and who still needs work on setup and racing line.
Compromised Program, Compressed Schedule
That this practice session happened at all was no given considering Friday's events. The entire Friday was lost as the track promoter hadn't finished tire barriers, safety gaps in the fence for corner workers, timing cables, and pedestrian bridges over Enterprise Boulevard in time. INDYCAR President J. Douglas Boles publicly apologized to the fans sitting in the grandstands who watched construction vehicles roll across the circuit instead.
With Friday wiped out, the series faced a tight schedule for Saturday and Sunday to squeeze in the full program including qualifying. Palou's best time in first practice means more than just a snapshot, it's the first reliable reference point on a track that gave the field barely any time to learn before the second session in the afternoon. With his 110-point championship lead and recent form backing him up, the champion enters the rest of the weekend as the clear favorite, but on a layout that truly no one knows yet, the picture could shift multiple times before Sunday's race.
