Sebastien Bourdais set the pace in opening practice for this weekends fourth round of the Verizon IndyCar Series season at Barber Motorsports Park.
The Frenchman overcame early brake issues to lead the way for KVSH Racing, with his 1m07.3399s enough for him to outpace his rivals, with Jack Hawksworth once again putting in an impressive practice performance in second for AJ Foyt Enterprises, 0.1263s back on Bourdais.
Andretti Autosport, fresh off the back of a dreadful weekend at the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, saw two of its drivers inside the top four, with Carlos Munoz finishing just ahead of team-mate Ryan Hunter-Reay, while the second Foyt entry of Takuma Sato was fifth.
James Hinchcliffe and Graham Rahal were next up for Schmidt Peterson Motorsports and Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing respectively, while championship leader and Long Beach race winner Simon Pagenaud was eighth for Team Penske.
Dale Coyne Racing’s Luca Filippi was ninth, while Scott Dixon completed the top ten for Chip Ganassi Racing.
Dixon’s Brazilian team-mate Tony Kanaan ended the session at the back, more than twenty seconds off the pace after engine issues on his car curtailed his session after just six slow laps.
Barber Motorsports Park Free Practice 1 Times
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