USF2000: Kaylee Countryman climbs to P13 in disrupted Markham weekend

Kaylee Countryman made the most of a challenging and disrupted debut at the new Markham Street Circuit, producing another determined recovery drive in Race 1 of the USF2000 weekend before her second race ended prematurely in an unavoidable multi-car accident.

Photo credits: Gavin Baker Photography

Kaylee Countryman made the most of a challenging and disrupted debut at the new Markham Street Circuit, producing another determined recovery drive in Race 1 of the USF2000 weekend before her second race ended prematurely in an unavoidable multi-car accident.

Kaylee Countryman headed to Markham carrying strong momentum after her a highly convincing USF2000 weekend at Portland, where the F1 Academy driver secured a pair of top-10 finishes with two determined recovery drives. The results marked her strongest weekend of the season in the North American series, building on an encouraging campaign that had already included a ninth-place finish at Indianapolis and several further top-20 results at Road America.

The American is combining her USF2000 programme with her rookie F1 Academy campaign in 2026, racing with support from the Haas F1 Team for her first full season in international single-seaters. Her F1 Academy season has also produced a major result, with Countryman scoring her maiden points in Montreal before finishing second in the reverse-grid race to claim her first single-seater podium.

The Canadian street circuit of Markham represented an entirely new challenge for the F1 Academy driver, with the inaugural event also suffering from the logistical difficulties associated with a brand-new venue. Friday's planned track activity was cancelled, leaving the USF2000 field with just one practice session on Saturday before qualifying was also abandoned because of the compressed schedule. As a result, the Race 1 grid was set according to championship points, leaving Countryman to start from 17th.

The limited preparation time made the weekend particularly demanding, but Countryman immediately demonstrated her ability to adapt. She made a clean getaway in Race 1 and quickly moved forward to 13th before the race was neutralized by an incident further ahead. The first of several interruptions, the caution period was followed by another incident at the hairpin shortly after the restart, although Countryman remained out of trouble and continued to run 13th.

Further drama soon brought out another FCY, with Countryman moving up to 12th as the field was neutralized once again. When Ryan Giannetta was forced to pit under caution, she inherited 11th, putting her within sight of another potential top-10 finish following her double top-10 weekend at Portland.

The race finally returned to green at the end of lap eight with seven laps remaining, but Countryman immediately found herself under pressure from teammate Cuthbert. Attempting to defend into the hairpin, she took the inside line but was left with little room through the corner, losing two positions and dropping back to 13th. Gabriel Cahan subsequently joined the fight, pushing Countryman down another position, although the American remained close enough to capitalize when Cahan and Peter battled ahead of her.

Another caution period, triggered by Callahan Peter going off at Turn 9, interrupted the action once again on lap 12. With insufficient time remaining for another restart, Countryman took the chequered flag in 13th, completing a clean and productive first race on a circuit where she had virtually no opportunity to build experience beforehand.

Photo credits: Gavin Baker Photography

Race 2 offered another opportunity to progress, with Countryman starting from 15th. The opening lap was considerably cleaner than the first race, although she slipped to 17th before the first incident at the hairpin brought out another FCY.

The caution period was extended by another crash, and just as the field was preparing to restart, further contact occurred in the midfield. A car was almost sent over in the incident, with Countryman directly behind the action, but she once again demonstrated excellent awareness to avoid the chaos and emerge unscathed. The evasive move allowed her to climb to 13th, although the race remained neutralized.

The field finally returned to green on lap eight, but the restart lasted only briefly. A major accident developed at the hairpin as several cars became involved under braking, with cars further back unable to avoid the incident.

Countryman was among those caught up in the chain reaction and was hit heavily from behind, leaving her with no realistic opportunity to avoid the collision. Her race was therefore brought to an early end.

Although the incident prevented Countryman from adding another strong result to her weekend, her 13th-place finish in Race 1 represented another solid performance on a circuit where the lack of running time made preparation especially difficult.

Countryman's attention now turns back to her F1 Academy campaign, with the championship returning from its summer break at Zandvoort in the Netherlands.