Colombia: Barranquilla Confirms IndyCar Race for April 2028 on Magdalena River Circuit
COLOMBIA · MOTORSPORT
Key Facts
—What happened: Barranquilla mayor Alejandro Char confirmed IndyCar will race in the Colombian city in April 2028.
—The stage: The street circuit will run along the Gran Malecón and Vía 40, with the Magdalena River as backdrop.
—How long: The planned layout covers about 4.3 kilometres, mixing the riverside promenade with city avenues.
—The catch: The series raced in São Paulo from 2010 to 2013, so “first outside North America” needs a footnote.
—The bigger dream: Char says Formula 1 is watching the project too, but only the US series has a confirmed date.
—The backdrop: Colombia is now a top-five Latin American car market, with first-half sales up about 50 percent.
Barranquilla has a date: April 2028, when IndyCar will race on a street circuit along the Magdalena River. It is the first confirmed international round for the US series in more than a decade, and it lands in Latin America’s fastest-growing car market.
What the mayor announced
Alejandro Char, the mayor of Barranquilla, made the announcement on Thursday 27 August. He chose the launch of a Magdalena River tourism event as his stage.
“IndyCar is going to race with us,” Char said. “In April 2028 it will race here, in front of the river.”
He framed it as a first for the series. The championship, he said, will leave North America for the first time to hold a race.
For foreign readers: IndyCar is the top single-seater championship in the United States. Its signature event is the Indianapolis 500, held every May.
The circuit by the river
The track will be a street circuit of about 4.3 kilometres. Char first described the layout in July, with sectors on the Gran Malecón and the Vía 40.
The Gran Malecón is Barranquilla’s riverfront promenade, the centerpiece of the city’s recent urban renewal. The Vía 40 is its main north–south artery.
The Magdalena is Colombia’s great river, its Mississippi. Racing beside it is the point of the whole project.
An earlier draft of the layout measured 3.92 kilometres, according to local media. The design work involves Tony Cotman, the veteran track designer behind several American street circuits.
How a Colombian city sold itself to the US series
The pitch began in earnest at the Indianapolis 500 in May. A Barranquilla delegation met the series’ chief executive Mark Miles there.
Miles was publicly cautious at the time. A 2027 race, he said, was unrealistic, though he called the city well-funded and eager.
The project also has a famous godfather. Juan Pablo Montoya, Colombia’s IndyCar champion and two-time Indy 500 winner, is the race’s ambassador.
Days before the announcement, Barranquilla staged a show run with Montoya and his son Sebastián. The event, backed by the mayor’s office, was a deliberate warm-up.
The fine print behind the headline
The “first outside North America” line deserves a footnote. The series raced in São Paulo, Brazil, every year from 2010 to 2013.
April 2028 would still be the series’ first international round in 15 years. It would also be the first championship race ever held in Colombia.
There is no track yet, only streets and a plan. Contracts, safety certification and paddock construction all sit between today and race day.
Char also floated a Formula 1 “Caribbean Grand Prix” as the next prize. Nothing on that front is confirmed, and F1 has announced no such race.
Why Colombia can sell this now
The commercial logic runs through the showroom. Colombia is now a top-five car market in Latin America, according to regional industry rankings.
It trails only giants like Brazil and Mexico in volume. In growth, it leads: January sales rose 38.9 percent year on year, the region’s fastest rate.
The momentum held through mid-year. Dealers registered 157,620 new vehicles in the first half of 2026, up about 50 percent, say trade groups Fenalco and Andi.
Strikingly, the country’s best-selling car this year is electric. The Tesla Model Y topped the first-half charts, ahead of the locally assembled Renault Duster.
What to watch from here
The first marker is the final circuit design. A 4.3-kilometre layout mixing promenade and arterial road will need serious safety work.
The second is the sanctioning paperwork. The series has not yet published the race on an official calendar.
The third is Formula 1. If Barranquilla delivers this race cleanly in 2028, the Caribbean Grand Prix talk gets harder to dismiss.
Frequently Asked Questions
When will IndyCar race in Barranquilla?
In April 2028. Mayor Alejandro Char confirmed the date on 27 August 2026, at the launch of a Magdalena River tourism event.
Where will the circuit run?
Along the Gran Malecón riverfront and the Vía 40 avenue, on a street layout of about 4.3 kilometres beside the Magdalena River.
Is this really IndyCar’s first race outside North America?
The mayor said so, but the series raced in São Paulo, Brazil, from 2010 to 2013. Barranquilla would be the first since then, and the first in Colombia.
Is Formula 1 coming to Barranquilla too?
Not confirmed. Char says Formula 1 is watching the project, but only the IndyCar race has an official date.
How big is Colombia’s car market?
Colombia is a top-five market in Latin America, behind leaders like Brazil and Mexico. New-vehicle registrations grew about 50 percent in the first half of 2026, according to Fenalco and Andi.
Connected Coverage
More on Barranquilla’s rise: the city’s first sustainable bond issue, the Tecnoglass road deal driving its growth and Colombia’s tourism revenue overtaking coffee and coal.
Sources: Pulzo on the mayor’s announcement; RACER via Daily Motor Culture on the IndyCar pitch and Mark Miles; Semana and El Colombiano on Colombia’s car market ranking and growth; Fenalco/Andi registration data.
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