The first session of the IndyCar weekend took place on Friday afternoon, with the field of drivers finding their way around the only Canadian track on the calendar.
1.79 miles of bumpy, public roads gave all 27 participants a workout as they wrenched the wheel back and forth to keep their cars under control while cruising through Toronto.
The driver that was able to get the most out of the track was Kyle Kirkwood, who completed his fastest lap with a time of 1:00.8075.
The sophomore driver looked as comfortable as he could as the streets slowly built up rubber over the course of the 75-minute session, and will look to carry that momentum through the rest of the weekend.
His Andretti Autosport team-mate Romain Grosjean set the second fastest time, and was only 0.05 seconds off the pace in his #28 entry.
A third Andretti driver Colton Herta was fourth on the charts, with Felix Rosenqvist slotting in between by logging the third fastest time.
Scott McLaughlin rounded out the top five, and was the fastest Team Penske representative of the afternoon.
The current runaway points leader Alex Palou topped the timesheets for much of the session, but fell down to 12th once the final laps on soft tires allowed others to jump up the order.
A newly repaved area of the track in the final few corners of the lap gave drivers a considerable challenge on Friday’s running.
A few large bumps and dips sit right in the racing line, allowing the front wing of the low-slung cars to smash into the tarmac in the heavy braking zone for turn 8.
Romain Grosjean was among an Andretti trio near the front of the field. Photo: Kevin Dejewski
Tires were also lifted off the ground with regularity as the cars literally bounced through the new section.
Nobody lost control on account of the bumps, but a few drivers did gain a few new bruises as they attempted to wrestle the steering wheel into submission.
Tom Blomqvist did his best to get to know his #60 Meyer Shank Racing Honda during his first live IndyCar session on a track he’s never driven before.
The star IMSA driver kept it out of the wall and completed 39 laps, but ended the day nearly three seconds off the pace at the front of the field.
The weekend is still early, but already Blomqvist has some work to do in order to give the team a reasonable weekend while Simon Pagenaud continues to heal.
Drivers will have one more practice session on Saturday morning to find the best lines through the tricky course before qualifying takes place in the afternoon.
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