Texas IndyCar: Chip Ganassi's Scott Dixon tops first practice
Chip Ganassi Racing driver Scott Dixon set the pace in a delayed and shortened opening practice session for Saturday's IndyCar race at the Texas Motor Speedway
Rain overnight and through Friday morning caused first practice to be delayed by just under three hours while the track dried, with the session being trimmed from 75 minutes to 60 as a result of a schedule reshuffle because of the weather.
Dixon moved to the top of the timesheets with a best lap time of 23.202 seconds and a best speed of 223.422mph in the closing moments of the session, which was interrupted by two cautions for track inspections.
He took over first place from team-mate Charlie Kimball, who was 0.163s further back with a best speed of 221.861mph. Early pacesetter Alexander Rossi was third for Andretti.
Following his double-victory at Detroit last weekend, Graham Rahal was fourth in his Rahal Letterman Lanigan car, ahead of Marco Andretti - who had a slightly delayed start, not appearing in the first 10 minutes.
Indianapolis 500 winner Takuma Sato was sixth quickest with a 23.473s lap and best speed of 220.828mph, making it an all Honda powered top six in the session, with Ed Carpenter and Will Power in the lead Penske the first of the Chevrolet runners.
Dixon's Chip Ganassi team-mate Tony Kanaan was ninth, just under three tenths off the leading pace, with Josef Newgarden completing the top 10 for Penske.
Tristan Vautier, standing in for Esteban Gutierrez, was 16th fastest as he prepares for his first IndyCar race since Sonoma 2015.
The session was the first time IndyCar had returned to the Texas track for a race weekend since it was resurfaced and new drainage was installed following last year's postponed event.
The opening two corners have also been reprofiled as part of track changes resulting in the banking changing from 24 to 20 degrees.
PRACTICE TIMES
| Pos | Driver | Team | Car | Time | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Scott Dixon | Chip Ganassi Racing | Dallara/Honda | 23.2027s | - | 37 |
| 2 | Charlie Kimball | Chip Ganassi Racing | Dallara/Honda | 23.3660s | 0.1633s | 51 |
| 3 | Alexander Rossi | Andretti Herta | Dallara/Honda | 23.4234s | 0.2207s | 47 |
| 4 | Graham Rahal | Rahal Letterman Lanigan | Dallara/Honda | 23.4385s | 0.2358s | 45 |
| 5 | Marco Andretti | Andretti Autosport | Dallara/Honda | 23.4549s | 0.2522s | 31 |
| 6 | Takuma Sato | Andretti Autosport | Dallara/Honda | 23.4753s | 0.2726s | 39 |
| 7 | Ed Carpenter | Ed Carpenter Racing | Dallara/Chevrolet | 23.4757s | 0.2730s | 40 |
| 8 | Will Power | Team Penske | Dallara/Chevrolet | 23.4827s | 0.2800s | 45 |
| 9 | Tony Kanaan | Chip Ganassi Racing | Dallara/Honda | 23.4884s | 0.2857s | 43 |
| 10 | Josef Newgarden | Team Penske | Dallara/Chevrolet | 23.4920s | 0.2893s | 31 |
| 11 | Mikhail Aleshin | Schmidt Peterson Motorsports | Dallara/Honda | 23.5125s | 0.3098s | 46 |
| 12 | Simon Pagenaud | Team Penske | Dallara/Chevrolet | 23.5356s | 0.3329s | 28 |
| 13 | Helio Castroneves | Team Penske | Dallara/Chevrolet | 23.5569s | 0.3542s | 41 |
| 14 | Max Chilton | Chip Ganassi Racing | Dallara/Honda | 23.5607s | 0.3580s | 42 |
| 15 | J.R. Hildebrand | Ed Carpenter Racing | Dallara/Chevrolet | 23.5685s | 0.3658s | 44 |
| 16 | Tristan Vautier | Dale Coyne Racing | Dallara/Honda | 23.6553s | 0.4526s | 41 |
| 17 | Ryan Hunter-Reay | Andretti Autosport | Dallara/Honda | 23.6688s | 0.4661s | 46 |
| 18 | Carlos Munoz | AJ Foyt Enterprises | Dallara/Chevrolet | 23.6911s | 0.4884s | 40 |
| 19 | Ed Jones | Dale Coyne Racing | Dallara/Honda | 23.6969s | 0.4942s | 51 |
| 20 | James Hinchcliffe | Schmidt Peterson Motorsports | Dallara/Honda | 23.7566s | 0.5539s | 42 |
| 21 | Gabby Chaves | Harding Racing | Dallara/Chevrolet | 23.9592s | 0.7565s | 44 |
| 22 | Conor Daly | AJ Foyt Enterprises | Dallara/Chevrolet | 23.9934s | 0.7907s | 60 |
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