Texas IndyCar: Dixon fastest in opening practice
Scott Dixon put Chip Ganassi Racing on top in a Honda-dominated and rain-delayed first hour of practice at Texas Motor Speedway.
Photo by: Scott R LePage / Motorsport Images
Dixon, who is still seeking his first victory of 2017, set a fastest lap of 23.2027sec, an average of 223.422mph, to usurp teammate Charlie Kimball by 1.6mph, albeit with the aid of a tow.
As teams experimented with qualifying trim toward the end of the session, which was twice stopped for track inspections due to cut tires, Alexander Rossi’s Andretti Autosport-Honda went third fastest on 221.317mph.
The only other drivers to crack the 221mph barrier were Detroit’s double winner, Graham Rahal in the Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing-Honda, and Marco Andretti in the second Andretti machine. He narrowly eclipsed his teammate and Indy 500 winner Takuma Sato.
Top Chevrolets were Ed Carpenter, in his Ed Carpenter Racing #20, and the quickest of the Team Penske quartet, three-times Texas polesitter Will Power. The remaining Penskes of Josef Newgarden, Simon Pagenaud and four-time TMS winner Helio Castroneves were 10th, 12th and 13th respectively, with Tony Kanaan ninth for Ganassi.
Tristan Vautier was 16th for Dale Coyne Racing-Honda in his first IndyCar session for two years, driving as DCR's latest stand-in for the injured Sebastien Bourdais.
Gabby Chaves, in Harding Racing-Chevrolet’s second-ever IndyCar outing, was 21st out of 22. Chaves finished ninth in last month's Indy 500 on the team's debut.
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