IndyCar to start using standing starts at Toronto

To come into a large market like Toronto and have a downtown race is important to the series. Racing on roads, street courses and ovals gives IndyCar a large demographic, IndyCar CEO Randy Bernard said Monday in Toronto. Drivers get more passionate about the variety of bumpy concrete-to-asphalt road surfaces on the Exhibition Place and Lakeshore Boulevard site. They start their “cussing games" early, Bernard said. Last year it ended with Power calling eventual winner Dario Franchitti “a princess".

“It adds to the excitement and shows how much winning here means to them," Bernard said.

The 150,000 fans around the Exhibition Place course, from 30 different countries, yielding a $45-million economic impact in Toronto, caught him off guard. “I’d forgotten how many race fans there are in Canada."

This year, spectators will be looking at a new car buzzing around the course – a smaller engine reduced from 3.5 liters to 2.3, and more fuel efficient as a six-cylinder than it was as an eight.

“We run wind tunnels. … It’s designed to be faster. That’s what fans want to see – speed. They want to watch the drivers showcase their skills."

Fans will see the race commence from a standing start – another element of the versatility of car and drivers who can handle courses on the roads, the streets and the ovals. The CEO said the drivers need time to practice it, but Toronto would be a good place to try it. Globe and Mail