Scott Dixon may not have to worry about his championship lead, sweeping the first day of practice sessions at Honda Indy Toronto.
Dixon lead Takuma Sato by nearly a second, spelling trouble for the rest of the IndyCar field. Marco Andretti has proved to carry impressive pace on the newly paved course, improving to P3 in the second session.
Graham Rahal slid back to P4 as teams continue to try and find the grip in a year where nothing from 2017 can be taken into account. Josef Newgarden, hoping to chase Dixon down in the points, proved this by coming up P7 despite being the defending winner on the streets of Toronto.
Conor Daly, who has only made one start in the Verizon IndyCar Series since being unable to secure a full-time ride for 2018, got up to speed in the new car quickly. After feeling out the track and the new car in the first practice session, he began his climb up the field with a P17 time.
The hometown core of James Hinchcliffe, Robert Wickens, and Zachary Claman De Melo are continuing to try and figure out the track’s new surface. Last week’s winner Hinchcliffe lead the trio in P10 while his teammate faltered slightly for P13. De Melo, was P19.
