Indy 500 Practice Day 1: Dixon Fastest on a Busy Day

Here we are, finally some IndyCar took to the track at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 2025! With the Indianapolis Grand Prix and the 109th edition of the 500 Miles just a few weeks away, the 34 drivers entered for this final event were able to debut their cars on the four-kilometer oval. However, the start of the day was delayed by more than two hours due to connectivity issues in the pit lane. With race control unable to communicate with the teams, it was becoming too dangerous to launch the cars onto the track at over 360 km/h without knowing if all the systems were operational.

Once the session got underway, everyone was having a great time in the sunshine, and Scott Dixon, winner of the event in 2008, set the fastest time. The New Zealander beat the two-time defending winner, Josef Newgarden (Team Penske), by just a hundredth of a second. Experience was a big factor in the top three on the first day, as Takuma Sato (Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing), also a two-time Indy 3 winner in 500 and 2017, finished third.

Two hybrid problems

The day was divided into three sessions, the first for all regular IndyCar drivers, who participated in the Indy 500 and the following rounds of the 2024 season. The rookie entrants, as well as the "veterans" who had not completed the 2024 season, then had to complete their various testing phases for two hours. Everyone met the IndyCar criteria, and so the third session was held with the 34 cars that will compete for 33 spots in the 109th edition of the Indianapolis 500. Santino Ferrucci (AJ Foyt Racing) and Jack Harvey (Dreyer & Reinbold Racing) experienced problems with the hybrid system of their single-seaters and saw their day end after less than twenty laps completed by both.

Graham Rahal (Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing) brushed the wall at the very end of the session, causing a caution. The American driver narrowly avoided an accident in turn 4, regaining control of his car narrowly. Testing continues this Thursday at 15:30 p.m. French time, with a morning dedicated to speed. Indeed, the drivers will have access to the increased turbo pressure level, which will only be available during qualifying for the Indy 500 and the day of testing preceding them. Qualifying simulations will therefore take place in the morning, before a more standard afternoon of driving. Enough to already see what the forces will be in attendance?

Indy 500 – Open Test – Day 1

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