The Honda Indy is set to take over the streets surrounding Exhibition Place in downtown Toronto this weekend.
The event, which began with its annual “Free Friday,” will delight fans until Sunday when the final race wraps up.
This year hometown hero James Hinchcliffe will be racing in the Indy.
The Oakville native told CTV Toronto that he’s already noticed the special fan attention.
“There’s definitely some attention,” he said. “There’s a couple of Go-Daddy hats and a couple of people shouting our name.”
Hinchcliffe is sponsored by the Internet domain registration and web hosting company.
Thanks to a special liquor license, fans will be able to walk the Indy grounds with a beer in hand. For the first time in Indy history, fans will not have to stay within the confines of a beer tent to consume their brews.
Earlier on Friday, four IndyCar crew members suffered minor injuries when two race cars collided during the first practice lap of the day.
The incident occurred on the Exhibition Centre race track shortly before noon on Friday, as IZOD IndyCar drivers were taking practice laps ahead of this weekend’s Honda Indy Toronto.
CTV Toronto’s Natalie Johnson reports that driver Justin Wilson slid into Sebastien Bourdais in the track’s pit area.
Two crew members from Bourdais’ Dragon Racing team, Chuck Homan and Raffi Aroyan, were taken to St. Michael’s Hospital with leg and ankle injuries.
David Martin, also of Dragon Racing, and Michael Cole, of Wilson’s Dale Coyne Racing team, were treated for minor injuries and released from an on-site care centre.
The cars involved in the crash were moved off the track and practice resumed about 20 minutes later.
With a report from CTV Toronto’s Natalie Johnson
