Scott Dixon leads on first day of Indy 500 testing as Rahal brushes wall

Scott Dixon led the way on the first day of Indy 500 testing, with Graham Rahal providing drama thanks to a brush with the famous wall.

35 cars took the iconic oval for the first official practice sessions for the world-famous Indy 500. With limited running available, drivers needed to make the most of the track time given to prepare for the gruelling race.

Many eyes were on the rookies to see how they would fare against Indianapolis’s unforgiving barriers. However, it would be a more experienced driver who would have a scare on the banked oval.

Proceedings were significantly delayed due to a fault with the track lighting system, forcing cars to wait in the pits for what seemed like an age.

Rookies and experience take to Indianapolis

Rookies Jacob Abel, Louis Foster, and Robert Shwartzman participated in the Rookie Orientation Program, which was designed to acclimatise them to Indianapolis’s unique characteristics. Foster fared the best of the three in 20th, while Abel had work to do after ending the day slowest.

Marco Andretti, Devlin DeFrancesco, Callum Ilott, Kyle Larson and Takuma Sato completed the veteran refresher test. Unsurprisingly, it was former Indy 500 winner Sato who emerged the strongest of the trio, finishing a respectable third.

However, Graham Rahal, entering his 18th year of competing in the famous race, had a scare when he brushed the barriers. Skilfully saving his car, he will want to avoid a repeat of the incident on the second day.

In the last hour, it was Scott Dixon who jumped to the top spot, with a lap of 225.182 mph to move clear of Josef Newgarden by the smallest of margins.

Championship leader Alex Palou had an understated day, finishing in sixth, some way off the pace. The busiest driver by far was rookie Robert Shwartzman, who completed an astonishing 2,805 laps.

Speaking after the session, Dixon played down his lap, stating he and the team were simply adhering to a strict test programme.

“It’s testing – just trying to get through the test list, lots of changes,” said Dixon. “We didn’t do the October test, so first time with the hybrid here, which definitely adds some elements to it and makes it pretty interesting. I think it is going to determine a lot race-wise, maybe even for the shootout at the end. I think it could determine that.

“So, trying to clarify a lot of those situations to make sure that you’re covered muscle memory-wise and memory-wise. It comes down to that. So even in qualifying, I think it be a few different strategies of how to get that right.”

Test Results

1 9 Dixon, Scott: 225.182 mph
2 2 Newgarden, Josef: 225.125 mph
3 75 Sato, Takuma 225.069 mph
4 66 Armstrong, Marcus 224.987 mph
5 26 Herta, Colton D/H/F 224.857 mph
6 10 Palou, Alex 224.786 mph
7 06 Castroneves, Helio 224.447 mph
8 60 Rosenqvist, Felix 223.735 mph
9 98 Andretti, Marco 223.602 mph
10 27 Kirkwood, Kyle 223.450 mph
11 17 Larson, Kyle 223.430 mph
12 76 Daly, Conor 223.280 mph
13 3 McLaughlin, Scott 223.250 mph
14 15 Rahal, Graham 222.919 mph
15 30 DeFrancesco, Devlin 222.911 mph
16 5 O’Ward, Pato 222.775 mph
17 20 Rossi, Alexander 222.692 mph
18 12 Power, Will 222.521 mph
19 28 Ericsson, Marcus 222.505 mph
20 45 Foster, Louis 222.381 mph
21 4 Malukas, David 221.872 mph
22 33 Carpenter, Ed 221.855 mph
23 8 Simpson, Kyffin 221.748 mph
24 23 Hunter-Reay, Ryan 221.728 43 (Practice 3)
25 23 Hunter- Reay, Ryan 221.339 (Practice 1)
26 77 Robb, Sting Ray 221.244 mph
27 7 Lundgaard, Christian 220.477 mph
28 21 Rasmussen, Christian 220.460 mph
29 83 Shwartzman, Robert 220.414 mph
30 14 Ferrucci, Santino 220.327 mph
31 24 Harvey, Jack 220.295 mph
32 6 Siegel, Nolan 220.168 mph
33 90 Ilott, Callum 219.852 mph
34 18 Veekay, Rinus 218.971 mph
35 51 Abel, Jacob 218.738 mph