No one turned more than 13 laps in the first practice session for the 108thIndianapolis 500, as rain arrived at Speedway, Indiana, but it was a familiar No. 9 at the top of the scoring pylon.
Scott Dixon ran nine laps in his Chip Ganassi Racing-Honda, the fastest of which was his seventh, a 229.107mph effort.
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The five-time Indy pole-winner, who won the race from P1 back in 2008, was the only driver to breach the 229mph threshold, while his two closest pursuers were drivers for whom the 500 is a one-off these days. Marco Andretti, 2020 pole sitter and 2006 runner-up, lapped the famed 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 39.4047 seconds, a speed of 228.399mph, in the fourth Andretti Global-Honda. Right behind him on the charts is Takuma Sato, the 2017 and 2020 winner, who is tackling his 15th Indy 500 in a Rahal Letterman Lanigan-Honda, the team for whom he won the event four years ago.
Pato O’Ward’s seventh lap put him fourth on lap speed, the 2022 Indy runner-up lapping at 224.993mph, ahead of Christian Lundgaard in one of RLL’s full-time entries. Four-time Indy winner and Indy specialist Helio Castroneves was sixth for Meyer Shank Racing-Honda, ahead of Colton Herta (Andretti), Felix Rosenqvist (Meyer Shank), Kyle Kirkwood (Andretti) and Chevy-powered A.J. Foyt Racing’s Sting Ray Robb.
Callum Ilott’s return to IndyCar in the No. 6 Arrow McLaren lately inhabited by Theo Pourchaire, saw him finish with 11th fastest time, ahead of 2022 winner Marcus Ericsson (Andretti).
Sadly, the day had to be declared a rainout, with just 219 laps having been turned in the dry 23-minute span.
This is the second consecutive year that rain has hit the first day of practice, with last year’s opening day being a complete washout, with no laps turned.
Wednesday’s action has been brought forward to 10am to help ameliorate the loss of track time today.