Detroit IndyCar: Dixon dominates first practice
Scott Dixon put his Chip Ganassi Racing-Honda on top by a daunting margin in opening IndyCar practice at Detroit, as Team Penske’s Will Power clocked P2 in the fastest of the Chevy machines.
Photo by: Michael L. Levitt / Motorsport Images
Dixon lapped the 2.35-mile course in 1min16.7418sec, an average speed of 110.240mph on his eighth of 13 laps on what was a very ‘green’ track surface.
Power was left 0.3464sec adrift in second place, as he proved the busiest driver of the session, racking up 20 laps – his last being his best. He was just 0.0178sec clear of Andretti Autosport-Honda’s Ryan Hunter-Reay who, like Dixon, won a round of the NTT IndyCar Series’ only double-header event. Josef Newgarden was fourth in the second Penske.
Graham Rahal, the only driver to win both races in the Detroit weekend, back in 2017, was fifth this morning, ahead of Harding Steinbrenner Racing’s star rookie Colton Herta.
Zach Veach was an impressive seventh ahead of Andretti teammate Alexander Rossi, with Spencer Pigot of Ed Carpenter Racing-Chevy and Takuma Sato in the second Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing-Honda taking ninth and 10th.
Patricio O’Ward, put Carlin-Chevy 11th fastest, ahead of Penske’s latest Indy 500 winner Simon Pagenaud.
The only stoppage was caused by Sebastien Bourdais outbraking himself at Turn 7 and stalling his Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser-Sullivan Honda down the run-off area.
Second practice begins at 2.50pm local (Eastern) time, and will see the teams allowed to one set of Firestone’s newest street-course alternate compound tires.
Practice results:
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