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Tony Kanaan fastest for AJ Foyt in first pre-Indianapolis 500 test

AJ Foyt Racing's Tony Kanaan set the pace as IndyCar's preparations for the 2018 Indianapolis 500 began with the first on-track running in the open test

The 2004 Indy 500 winner was just 13th in the morning's hour-long session but climbed to the top of the times early in the afternoon.

He was deposed by Chip Ganassi Racing driver Scott Dixon just before the midway point of the afternoon before a yellow flag flew for a track inspection.

Kanaan would then improve to a laptime of 39.7912 seconds with an average speed of 226.181mph to regain the top spot ahead of Penske's Simon Pagenaud, who was 0.0476s slower thanks to a 225.910mph tour.

The speeds set by the frontrunners suggest that the significant reduction in downforce has not slowed the cars down at Indianapolis, with the acceleration on the straights making up for any cornering deficit.

In a relatively uneventful session, Penske had notably practised drafting and pack running as it briefly lifted Will Power to the top of the times, before Pagenaud asserted his claim to second.

Two last-minute improvements meant that Marco Andretti finished the day in third, having topped the morning's hour for the Andretti team.

Harding Racing, which impressed at last year's Indy 500, went fourth with Gabby Chaves (pictured below) at the wheel.

Dixon would end up fifth ahead of the fellow Honda-powered entry of Sebastien Bourdais.

Spencer Pigot was another driver to improve late on, edging out Ed Jones for seventh.

Ed Carpenter's best time was good enough for ninth as his team's Indy 500 addition Danica Patrick watched on from the team's pitwall.

Penske's Helio Castroneves built on his IndyCar return at Barber's open test to go 10th and made it six Chevrolet-powered cars inside the top 10 at a venue where Honda has recently had the edge.

Charlie Kimball was a decent 13th behind Graham Rahal and Power as Carlin languished at the bottom of the times early in the day.

Reigning champion Josef Newgarden was 14th, oddly running one of Power's nosecones late in the day, coming out ahead of defending Indy 500 winner Takuma Sato.

Fellow one-time Indy 500 winner Alexander Rossi was 18th, in front of Andretti team-mate Ryan Hunter-Reay.

Schmidt Peterson Motorsports brought up the rear with Jack Harvey 20th ahead of last-placed Jamies Hinchcliffe.

The session ended with Newgarden preparing to test the windscreen in its second outing, while on Tuesday Indianapolis will host the rookie and refresher tests.

Morning times

Pos Driver Team Car Speed Time Gap Laps
1 Marco Andretti Andretti Herta Dallara/Honda 223.997 40.1791s - 12
2 Takuma Sato Rahal Letterman Lanigan Dallara/Honda 223.359 40.2939s 0.1148s 30
3 Scott Dixon Chip Ganassi Racing Dallara/Honda 223.199 40.3228s 0.1437s 20
4 Gabby Chaves Harding Racing Dallara/Chevrolet 222.838 40.3880s 0.2089s 31
5 Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti Autosport Dallara/Honda 222.727 40.4083s 0.2292s 14
6 Graham Rahal Rahal Letterman Lanigan Dallara/Honda 222.663 40.4198s 0.2407s 17
7 Ed Carpenter Ed Carpenter Racing Dallara/Chevrolet 222.203 40.5035s 0.3244s 24
8 Ed Jones Chip Ganassi Racing Dallara/Honda 222.008 40.5390s 0.3599s 29
9 James Hinchcliffe Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Dallara/Honda 221.666 40.6016s 0.4225s 29
10 Simon Pagenaud Team Penske Dallara/Chevrolet 221.411 40.6483s 0.4692s 32
11 Sebastien Bourdais Dale Coyne Racing Dallara/Honda 221.250 40.6779s 0.4988s 27
12 Alexander Rossi Andretti Autosport Dallara/Honda 221.230 40.6817s 0.5026s 26
13 Tony Kanaan AJ Foyt Enterprises Dallara/Chevrolet 220.919 40.7389s 0.5598s 9
14 Spencer Pigot Ed Carpenter Racing Dallara/Chevrolet 220.915 40.7397s 0.5606s 28
15 Helio Castroneves Team Penske Dallara/Chevrolet 220.748 40.7705s 0.5914s 35
16 Jack Harvey Michael Shank Racing Dallara/Honda 220.589 40.7999s 0.6208s 32
17 Zach Veach Andretti Autosport Dallara/Honda 220.395 40.8357s 0.6566s 15
18 Josef Newgarden Team Penske Dallara/Chevrolet 220.384 40.8379s 0.6588s 36
19 Will Power Team Penske Dallara/Chevrolet 220.207 40.8707s 0.6916s 39
20 Max Chilton Carlin Dallara/Chevrolet 218.421 41.2048s 1.0257s 24
21 Charlie Kimball Carlin Dallara/Chevrolet 218.228 41.2413s 1.0622s 27

Afternoon times

Pos Driver Team Car Speed Time Gap Laps
1 Tony Kanaan AJ Foyt Enterprises Dallara/Chevrolet 226.181 39.7912s - 53
2 Simon Pagenaud Team Penske Dallara/Chevrolet 225.910 39.8388s 0.0476s 76
3 Marco Andretti Andretti Herta Dallara/Honda 225.637 39.8871s 0.0959s 33
4 Gabby Chaves Harding Racing Dallara/Chevrolet 225.630 39.8884s 0.0972s 50
5 Scott Dixon Chip Ganassi Racing Dallara/Honda 225.448 39.9205s 0.1293s 66
6 Sebastien Bourdais Dale Coyne Racing Dallara/Honda 225.327 39.9420s 0.1508s 80
7 Spencer Pigot Ed Carpenter Racing Dallara/Chevrolet 225.326 39.9421s 0.1509s 54
8 Ed Jones Chip Ganassi Racing Dallara/Honda 225.145 39.9743s 0.1831s 67
9 Ed Carpenter Ed Carpenter Racing Dallara/Chevrolet 224.885 40.0205s 0.2293s 39
10 Helio Castroneves Team Penske Dallara/Chevrolet 224.673 40.0582s 0.2670s 74
11 Graham Rahal Rahal Letterman Lanigan Dallara/Honda 224.424 40.1027s 0.3115s 65
12 Will Power Team Penske Dallara/Chevrolet 224.410 40.1052s 0.3140s 74
13 Charlie Kimball Carlin Dallara/Chevrolet 223.888 40.1987s 0.4075s 65
14 Josef Newgarden Team Penske Dallara/Chevrolet 223.699 40.2326s 0.4414s 89
15 Takuma Sato Rahal Letterman Lanigan Dallara/Honda 223.510 40.2667s 0.4755s 59
16 Max Chilton Carlin Dallara/Chevrolet 223.249 40.3138s 0.5226s 51
17 Zach Veach Andretti Autosport Dallara/Honda 222.802 40.3947s 0.6035s 52
18 Alexander Rossi Andretti Autosport Dallara/Honda 222.732 40.4073s 0.6161s 54
19 Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti Autosport Dallara/Honda 221.625 40.6092s 0.8180s 60
20 Jack Harvey Michael Shank Racing Dallara/Honda 220.247 40.8632s 1.0720s 57
21 James Hinchcliffe Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Dallara/Honda 220.161 40.8792s 1.0880s 66

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