Mid-Ohio IndyCar: Ganassi's Scott Dixon leads Friday practice

Bourdais, who was the pacesetter earlier in the day for KV, climbed to first place when he posted a 1m06.0190s effort with five minutes left on the clock.

Just a couple of minutes later Dixon went faster still in his Ganassi entry, creeping below the 1m06s barrier for the first time this weekend with a 1m05.9645s.

His time remained unbeaten when the chequered flag flew, but the level of competition among the frontrunners was reflected in the top six being covered by less than 0.2 seconds.

That count included two Honda entries - those of Graham Rahal and Takuma Sato - and in what has been a rarity on road courses this year, the manufacturers were evenly split right through the field.

Part of that could be attributed to a quiet start from Penske's Juan Pablo Montoya and Simon Pagenaud, who found themselves bookending Ganassi rookie Sage Karam down towards the bottom of the timesheets.

Prior to setting the fastest time, Dixon was one of several drivers to spin and trigger a brief stoppage, although he - along with Luca Filippi and Rodolfo Gonzalez, who had moments of their own later on - all managed to continue without damage.

Less fortunate was Gonzalez's Dale Coyne Racing team-mate Tristan Vautier, who ran off the track and endured such a bumpy ride through the grass that his rear wheel pods were torn off.

The Frenchman was able to continue after a visit to the pits for a new rear wing.

PRACTICE TWO TIMES: