Team Penske's Juan Pablo Montoya ended opening practice of IndyCar's Long Beach Grand Prix fastest, ahead of team-mate Will Power and British racer Jack Hawksworth.
Montoya quickly asserted his authority over proceedings and was joined at the top during the latter stages of the session by Power.
Hawksworth ended the session as the fastest Honda-powered driver in third, despite a minor mistake at Turn 9 during the early stages of the session.
Josef Newgarden ended the session fourth, ahead of Long Beach specialist Takuma Sato, James Hinchcliffe and former champion Ryan Hunter-Reay.
Previous Long Beach race winner Helio Castroneves was eighth for Penske, ahead of Carlos Munoz with reigning champion and Phoenix race winner Scott Dixon rounding out the top 10 for Chip Ganassi.
Points leader Simon Pagenaud ended practice a lowly 18th for Penske, sandwiched between rookies Conor Daly and Max Chilton.
Former Formula 1 racer and IndyCar rookie Alexander Rossi prompted the first red flag of the weekend with a crash into the barriers at Turn 13.
The local driver was unscathed in the incident, however his car will require minor repairs.
The opening session was interrupted by a second red flag with just minutes left on the clock as Charlie Kimball suffered a serious brake failure at Turn 9.
