The Andretti Autosport cars set the early pace, with Romain Grosjean and then Colton Herta taking turns at the top, before Ganassi’s 2021 champion Alex Palou deposed Herta to claim top spot with 1m07.2416s.
Then Marcus Ericsson demoted team-mate Palou from P1 with a 1m07.2233s, while 2022 Long Beach winner Josef Newgarden slotted into fifth. Not long after, however, the two-time champion smacked his Penske broadside against the wall exiting Turn 5, damaging both left-side wheels and even the edge of the floor.
Graham Rahal also had a spin at Turn 5 but touched the wall only with his rear wing endfence and returned to action.
Just past the halfway point in the session, Chevrolet’s representation suddenly looked stronger, as Scott McLaughlin moved his Penske entry into fourth, just ahead of O’Ward. Then out came the red flag, as Helio Castroneves stalled his Meyer Shank Racing car when he failed to find reverse gear after sliding to a halt at the exit of the final hairpin. At the same time, Agustin Canapino slid down the Turn 9 escape road and also needed rescuing.
O’Ward went up the Turn 9 escape road with 18 minutes to go, after locking his right front wheel over the bumps while Newgarden, with a taped up floor, returned to the track and jumped into sixth.
Grosjean slotted into top spot with 10 minutes remaining, the St. Petersburg polesitter logging a 1m07.104s to jump Ericsson by 0.118s.
Herta also clambered past Ericsson before then claiming top spot, chipping 0.124s from Grosjean’s former benchmark.
Ericsson got within 0.005s of Herta before O’Ward’s sparkling 1m06.6999 put him 0.28s faster than Herta.
Patricio O’Ward, Arrow McLaren Chevrolet
Photo by: Gavin Baker / Motorsport Images
Saving his best to last, Dixon grabbed second but was still 0.265s off O’Ward. After Herta and Ericsson, Alexander Rossi made it two Arrow McLarens in the top five.
He was followed by Grosjean, Palou and the impressive Callum Ilott (Juncos Holinger), as the third McLaren of Felix Rosenqvist and leading RLL driver Christian Lundgaard completed the top 10.
Second practice is at 8.45am local (Pacific) time on Saturday.