Toronto IndyCar: Rossi leads Pagenaud in opening practice

Palou was the first driver into the 61sec bracket, a 61.8398sec which he then trimmed to 61.4782, which equates to 104.583mph around the 1.786-mile course. Two-time Toronto pole-winner Will Power trimmed his advantage to 0.22sec, then delivered a 61.3240 to go top for Team Penske-Chevrolet.

His former teammate Simon Pagenaud, a master of the bumpy street course, got within 0.0758sec in his Meyer Shank Racing-Honda, before Andretti Autosport-Honda’s Alexander Rossi edged 0.0172sec ahead of Power to claim P1.

With 42mins left, Felix Rosenqvist vaulted into first for Arrow McLaren SP-Chevrolet, by just 0.0053sec, right before the red flag flew for an inspection of a drain cover at Turn 2.

Callum Ilott struck the wall at Turn 1 with his front-left corner 30mins after overcorrecting a slide, the subsequent second red flag coming moments after Graham Rahal – the 2009 polesitter here – sent his #15 Rahal Letterman Lanigan-Honda to the top. His 61.2189sec effort was the first lap over 105mph.

Soon after the session restarted, Jimmie Johnson spun his Carvana Chip Ganassi Racing-Honda while trying his softer Firestone alternate compound tires, and although he stalled, he had minimized damage to just his right-front wing.

AMR Safety Team’s recovery of the #48 was swift, and following the green flag, Palou hit the track with a set of Foalternates, and most drivers followed suit, for this was the only chance to try the alternates before tomorrow afternoon’s qualifying session.

Helio Castroneves of Meyer Shank was the first to make it count, moving into second place, while Scott McLaughlin who had zero experience of the track prior to this weekend landed fifth. Then Palou went fastest with a 61.1376sec lap, while teammate Scott Dixon