Detroit IndyCar: Power tops practice as Chevrolet goes 1-2-3

The #12 Team Penske-Chevrolet driver set the fastest time on the harder compound primary Firestones with a 1min17.6869sec, before Alexander Rossi on a set of softer alternates edged ahead by just 0.03sec.

O’Ward initially couldn’t improve his time on reds, but then laid down a 1min17.5143. But that wasn’t enough to put him top as Sebastien Bourdais had delivered a 1min17.4291sec for AJ Foyt Racing-Chevrolet.

On reds, Power couldn’t improve for several laps, but three-time Detroit GP winner Scott Dixon could, and wound up fastest of the Honda contingent, ahead of Rossi, Herta and Dixon’s teammate Marcus Ericsson.

Then Power on his final lap produced a 1min17.2768sec lap around the 2.35-mile 14-turn course, 0.15sec than Bourdais.

Rinus VeeKay of Ed Carpenter Racing never set a time on primaries as he launched over the grass at Turn 1 and came back into the pits for a thorough checkover

Romain Grosjean in the Dale Coyne Racing-Honda with RWR-Honda spun on his 18^th lap down at Turn 4, but managed to merely skim the advertising banner covering the tire wall, so spun-turn his car and continued. He eventually finished the session in 13^th, 1.3sec off top spot.

Rookie Scott McLaughlin understeered into the tire wall at Turn 5 on his sixth lap, breaking his right front suspension and wing, which caused Jimmie Johnson to spin the #48 Ganassi – flat spotting his tires but keeping the car off the wall. McLaughlin described his own shunt as a “stupid mistake”, and it meant he missed the remainder of the session.

Alex Palou, championship leader, turned the most laps – 31 – but was only 15^th.

Detroit’s Belle Isle course proved a tough nut for Palou’s teammate Johnson who ended up 5.4sec off the ultimate pace.

Cla	Driver	Team	Laps	Time	Gap	Mph
1	Will Power	Team Penske	26	1'17.276		109.477
2	Sébastien Bourdais	A.J. Foyt Enterprises	27	1'17.429	0.152	109.261
3	Patricio O'Ward	Arrow McLaren SP	22	1'17.514	0.237	109.141
4	Scott Dixon	Chip Ganassi Racing	20	1'17.617	0.341	108.996
5	Alexander Rossi	Andretti Autosport	23	1'17.658	0.381	108.938
6	Colton Herta	Andretti Autosport with Curb-Agajanian	21	1'17.812	0.535	108.723
7	Marcus Ericsson	Chip Ganassi Racing	25	1'17.972	0.696	108.499
8	Josef Newgarden	Team Penske	23	1'18.032	0.756	108.416
9	Rinus van Kalmthout	Ed Carpenter Racing	32	1'18.145	0.869	108.259
10	Ryan Hunter-Reay	Andretti Autosport	27	1'18.203	0.926	108.180
11	James Hinchcliffe	Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport	22	1'18.496	1.219	107.776
12	Takuma Sato	Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing	23	1'18.517	1.240	107.746
13	Romain Grosjean	Dale Coyne Racing with RWR	29	1'18.585	1.308	107.654
14	Felix Rosenqvist	Arrow McLaren SP	23	1'18.754	1.477	107.423
15	Alex Palou	Chip Ganassi Racing	31	1'18.799	1.522	107.361
16	Graham Rahal	Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing	23	1'18.819	1.542	107.334
17	Conor Daly	Ed Carpenter Racing	24	1'18.873	1.597	107.260
18	Max Chilton	Carlin	26	1'18.877	1.600	107.255
19	Simon Pagenaud	Team Penske	21	1'18.893	1.616	107.234
20	Ed Jones	Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser Sullivan	19	1'19.080	1.804	106.979
21	Jack Harvey	Meyer Shank Racing	19	1'19.313	2.036	106.666
22	Santino Ferrucci	Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing	22	1'19.340	2.063	106.629
23	Dalton Kellett	A.J. Foyt Enterprises	28	1'20.807	3.530	104.694
24	Scott McLaughlin	Team Penske	5	1'21.125	3.848	104.283
25	Jimmie Johnson	Chip Ganassi Racing	26	1'22.735	5.458	102.254
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