Two-time Toronto winner Scott Dixon topped the first practice of the IndyCar Series’ only international venture.
Looking to defend his ever-shrinking points lead from a hard-charging Josef Newgarden, Dixon topped the time charts with a time of 1:00.747 ahead of Graham Rahal.
Alexander Rossi, seeking a comeback from disappointing finishes in Road America and Iowa, led much of the practice session; having fallen back from second in the standings, he finished the first session with the third-fastest time.
Takuma Sato continues his competitive push with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing. He came up two spots behind his team-mate in P4 as he hopes to string together a series of strong finishes heading into the latter portion of the season.
All eyes were on the Canadian trio of James Hinchcliffe, Robert Wickens, and Zachary Claman De Melo, enjoying a considerable amount of fanfare in their home country.
Wickens proved quick off the top of the session, but ultimately fell down the chart to P11 in his first appearance on the streets of Toronto since the Atlantic Championship in 2017. Last week’s winner, Hinchcliffe, was P18 just ahead of De Melo in P19.
Defending Toronto winner and top challenger for a repeat championship, Newgarden posted a more modest time to start the weekend and ended the first session P13.
