Cool and sunny conditions greeted the field of 27 IndyCar drivers as they took to the IMS road course for the first practice session of the weekend.
75 minutes were scheduled, but only one hour of the time was dedicated to setting lap times due to three separate red flags that interrupted the running.
Despite the stoppages, Colton Herta was able to put his Andretti Global Honda to the top of the timesheets with a time of 1:09.2863.
The time he set was nearly a full second faster than last year’s pole time, with the ideal track conditions helping him along.
Agustin Canapino set the second fastest time, impressing his boss Ricardo Juncos and setting the stage for him to potentially have the best weekend of his IndyCar career.
Will Power was third fastest, but had his name above everyone else for much of the session. He did nearly hit another car while pulling out of his pit box at one point, but no damage was done.
Luca Ghiotto, in his second IndyCar race weekend, completed the most laps in practice, but still finished 24th on the timesheets.
The first red flag of the morning came after just 10 minutes were complete when Josef Newgarden spun in the penultimate corner.
He needed assistance to get going again, but suffered no damage. Newgarden was assessed a five-minute penalty for causing a stoppage that affected the rest of the field.
Shortly after the green flag was waived, the red was shown two more times for drivers having mechanical troubles during the first session of the weekend.
Graham Rahal stopped on course with an engine failure, and Marcus Armstrong similarly came to a halt with engine trouble. Both drivers are powered by Honda engines.
Armstrong’s engine failure was a bit more dramatic, with plumes of smoke pouring from the back of the car as he pulled into his pit box.
RLL and CGR crews will have a busy time getting new engines fitted ahead of the second practice scheduled just over two hours away, and both drivers will have to be satisfied with next to no laps under their belt for the morning session.
As time expired, Theo Pourchaire also had fuel pressure issues as well, and pulled his #6 Arrow McLaren Chevy off the to side of the track.
Drivers will have a second practice session in the early afternoon, followed by qualifying later in the day at 4:20 PM.
