IndyCar

Andretti Paces opening day of Indy 500 practice

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Marco Andretti set the pace on day one of practice for the Indy 500 - Credit: Joe Skibinski / IndyCar

Practice for the 101st running of the Indianapolis 500 got underway on Monday, and Marco Andretti was the initial pacesetter, the Andretti Autosport driver hitting 226.338mph.

Thirty-two cars took to the track, with only Buddy Lazier failing to make an appearance, but it was Andretti that ended the day at the top of the timing screens.

Scott Dixon, a previous Indianapolis 500 race winner, was second fastest for Chip Ganassi Racing as the top twenty-five drivers were all within one second of the pace in a field that includes two-time Formula 1 World Champion Fernando Alonso and three other Indy 500 rookies, Ed Jones, Zach Veach and Jack Harvey.

Harvey had the misfortune of becoming the first driver to hit the wall in 2017 practice, with the Michael Shank Racing with Andretti Autosport driver making contact with the SAFER barrier at turn two with what appeared to be a mechanical issue on his #50 machine.

Alonso finished nineteenth fastest for McLaren Honda Andretti despite a suspension issue costing him some track time that was planned to involve his team-mates in running in traffic, something the Spaniard will find different to what he experiences in Formula 1.

Ed Carpenter, twice the pole sitter at Indianapolis, was third fastest for his Ed Carpenter Racing team ahead of Sebastien Bourdais of Dale Coyne Racing, while Ryan Hunter-Reay placed fifth for Andretti Autosport; Graham Rahal, Will Power, Tony Kanaan, Mikhail Aleshin and Takuma Sato completed the top ten.

Jones completed his rookie orientation programme for Dale Coyne Racing, but both Harvey and Veach (AJ Foyt Racing) still have to progress through their own programmes in order to be permitted to race in the legendary event.

Jay Howard, Oriol Servia and Sebastian Saavedra all completed both phases of their veteran refresher programmes and were all on the pace for Schmidt Peterson Motorsport, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing and Juncos Racing respectively.

Both Juncos Racing and Harding Racing made their debuts on track, with Saavedra and Spencer Pigot representing the former and Gabby Chaves the latter, although Chaves completed just six laps on Monday.

Indianapolis 500 Practice 1 Result

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