Scott Dixon led the first practice session for the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix this morning, with a lap of 1 minute, 16.7418 seconds around the 2.35-mile Belle Isle Park street circuit.
The Chip Ganassi Racing driver, who won Race #1 on Belle Isle last year, topped Will Power by 0.3464 seconds.
Last year’s Detroit Race #2 winner, Ryan Hunter-Reay, was third-fastest with his lap of 1 minute, 17.1060 seconds, followed by Josef Newgarden (1:17.1981) and Graham Rahal (1:17.1981).
Indianapolis 500 champion Simon Pagenaud finished the session 12th-fastest (1 minute, 17.7087 seconds).
The lone red flag of the session came out with just under nine minutes remaining after Sebastien Bourdais locked up in turn 7 and stalled in the runoff area. Bourdais was assessed a five-minute penalty for bringing out the red flag, and remained in the pits for the rest of the session.
The second practice session for the Detroit Grand Prix will take place later this afternoon, with coverage beginning at 2:50 p.m. ET on NBC Sports Gold.