Ganassi's Scott Dixon sweeps IndyCar Friday practice at Toronto
Chip Ganassi Racing driver and IndyCar championship leader Scott Dixon topped both Friday practice sessions ahead of the Toronto race
Dixon's fastest time of 59.0751 seconds came in the second session, a period in which most teams used the softer Firestone red-walled tyre compound.
That left him 0.4s clear of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing's Takuma Sato as RLLR proved Dixon's closest challenger in both practices.
In the first session, it was Graham Rahal leading the RLLR two-car effort in second, but he spun out of the final corner in the second practice and proved to be only fourth fastest.
The RLLR cars were split by the fastest of the Andretti Autosport machines in the afternoon running with Detroit polesitter Marco Andretti in third, a feat he repeated in both sessions.
He beat team-mate Alexander Rossi by half a tenth, while Ed Carpenter Racing's Spencer Pigot - who scored his first IndyCar podium at Iowa last weekend - was an impressive sixth and the fastest Chevrolet-powered runner.
Ryan Hunter-Reay rubbed the outside wall at Turn 1 but recovered to take eighth in the morning, before doing so again in the second practice session.
Defending Toronto winner and defending champion, Penske's Josef Newgarden was seventh fastest in the afternoon, but it was a torrid session for team-mate Will Power who not only grated his left-hand wheels along the Turn 1 wall but then also slithered into the Turn 1 run-off area, eventually winding up 16th and 1.2s off Dixon's benchmark.
Local drivers Robert Wickens and James Hinchcliffe had a difficult day in their home race weekend for Schmidt Peterson Motorsports.
Wickens was best placed in the first session down in 11th, with Hinchcliffe the top SPM driver in the afternoon with 10th.
Conor Daly improved in his first IndyCar weekend with Harding Racing having replaced Gabby Chaves at Toronto, going from 20th in the morning to 17th in the afternoon.
Ed Carpenter Racing's Jordan King had a morning to forget when he ran out of fuel on the course and brought out a red flag. He then finished 21st in the afternoon, rounding out a difficult Friday.
Free practice one results
| Pos | Driver | Team | Car | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Scott Dixon | Chip Ganassi Racing | Dallara/Honda | 1m00.7474s |
| 2 | Graham Rahal | Rahal Letterman Lanigan | Dallara/Honda | 0.1911s |
| 3 | Alexander Rossi | Andretti Autosport | Dallara/Honda | 0.2312s |
| 4 | Takuma Sato | Rahal Letterman Lanigan | Dallara/Honda | 0.2576s |
| 5 | Marco Andretti | Andretti Herta | Dallara/Honda | 0.3018s |
| 6 | Sebastien Bourdais | Dale Coyne Racing | Dallara/Honda | 0.3834s |
| 7 | Will Power | Team Penske | Dallara/Chevrolet | 0.4121s |
| 8 | Ryan Hunter-Reay | Andretti Autosport | Dallara/Honda | 0.5062s |
| 9 | Matheus Leist | AJ Foyt Enterprises | Dallara/Chevrolet | 0.5229s |
| 10 | Ed Jones | Chip Ganassi Racing | Dallara/Honda | 0.5715s |
| 11 | Robert Wickens | Schmidt Peterson Motorsports | Dallara/Honda | 0.5936s |
| 12 | Simon Pagenaud | Team Penske | Dallara/Chevrolet | 0.5962s |
| 13 | Josef Newgarden | Team Penske | Dallara/Chevrolet | 0.6934s |
| 14 | Zach Veach | Andretti Autosport | Dallara/Honda | 0.9525s |
| 15 | Tony Kanaan | AJ Foyt Enterprises | Dallara/Chevrolet | 1.0220s |
| 16 | Spencer Pigot | Ed Carpenter Racing | Dallara/Chevrolet | 1.1312s |
| 17 | Max Chilton | Carlin | Dallara/Chevrolet | 1.1564s |
| 18 | James Hinchcliffe | Schmidt Peterson Motorsports | Dallara/Honda | 1.2552s |
| 19 | Zachary Claman | Dale Coyne Racing | Dallara/Honda | 1.4281s |
| 20 | Conor Daly | Harding Racing | Dallara/Chevrolet | 1.6383s |
| 21 | Jordan King | Ed Carpenter Racing | Dallara/Chevrolet | 1.6648s |
| 22 | Charlie Kimball | Carlin | Dallara/Chevrolet | 1.7240s |
| 23 | Rene Binder | Juncos Racing | Dallara/Chevrolet | 1.7298s |
Free practice two results
| Pos | Driver | Team | Car | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Scott Dixon | Chip Ganassi Racing | Dallara/Honda | 59.0751s |
| 2 | Takuma Sato | Rahal Letterman Lanigan | Dallara/Honda | 0.4366s |
| 3 | Marco Andretti | Andretti Herta | Dallara/Honda | 0.4526s |
| 4 | Graham Rahal | Rahal Letterman Lanigan | Dallara/Honda | 0.4557s |
| 5 | Alexander Rossi | Andretti Autosport | Dallara/Honda | 0.5095s |
| 6 | Spencer Pigot | Ed Carpenter Racing | Dallara/Chevrolet | 0.5599s |
| 7 | Josef Newgarden | Team Penske | Dallara/Chevrolet | 0.5632s |
| 8 | Ryan Hunter-Reay | Andretti Autosport | Dallara/Honda | 0.5720s |
| 9 | Sebastien Bourdais | Dale Coyne Racing | Dallara/Honda | 0.7276s |
| 10 | James Hinchcliffe | Schmidt Peterson Motorsports | Dallara/Honda | 0.7406s |
| 11 | Simon Pagenaud | Team Penske | Dallara/Chevrolet | 0.7466s |
| 12 | Ed Jones | Chip Ganassi Racing | Dallara/Honda | 0.8924s |
| 13 | Robert Wickens | Schmidt Peterson Motorsports | Dallara/Honda | 0.9111s |
| 14 | Tony Kanaan | AJ Foyt Enterprises | Dallara/Chevrolet | 0.9427s |
| 15 | Zach Veach | Andretti Autosport | Dallara/Honda | 0.9845s |
| 16 | Will Power | Team Penske | Dallara/Chevrolet | 1.2503s |
| 17 | Conor Daly | Harding Racing | Dallara/Chevrolet | 1.3363s |
| 18 | Charlie Kimball | Carlin | Dallara/Chevrolet | 1.4226s |
| 19 | Matheus Leist | AJ Foyt Enterprises | Dallara/Chevrolet | 1.4804s |
| 20 | Rene Binder | Juncos Racing | Dallara/Chevrolet | 1.4961s |
| 21 | Jordan King | Ed Carpenter Racing | Dallara/Chevrolet | 1.6011s |
| 22 | Max Chilton | Carlin | Dallara/Chevrolet | 1.6159s |
| 23 | Zachary Claman | Dale Coyne Racing | Dallara/Honda | 2.1072s |
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