Simon Pagenaud has set the pace by more than four tenths of a second in Practice 1 for IndyCar’s Grand Prix of Long Beach.

The Meyer Shank Racing driver went as quick as a 1:07.1991s in what ended up being a 45-minute session, with fellow Honda driver Alexander Rossi next-best on a 1:07.6012s in his Andretti Autosport entry.

Scott McLaughlin and Team Penske team-mate Josef Newgarden were each slightly slower again, with personal-bests of 1:07.6720s and 1:07.7282s.

There were two red flags during the session, one triggered by Jimmie Johnson (Chip Ganassi Racing) when he grabbed too much kerb at Turn 5 and understeered into the tyre barriers.

The other was necessitated for a more innocuous reason, namely that Dalton Kellett (AJ Foyt Racing) spun and stalled.

Johnson, however, was not the only driver to come to grief, with McLaren SP’s Pato O’Ward hanging the tail of Car #5 out at Turn 5 and smacking the left-rear on a bare concrete section of the wall.

Behind Pagenaud, Rossi, McLaughlin, and Newgarden on the timesheet, it was Marcus Ericsson (CGR) rounding out the top five on a 1:07.8425s.

The rest of the top 10 was Colton Herta (Andretti), Alex Palou (CGR), Will Power (Penske), Callum Ilott (Juncos Hollinger Racing), and Kyle Kirkwood (AJ Foyt).

Scott Dixon was 11th all told in the #9 CGR Honda at 0.8487s off the pace, while O’Ward got back on track with a new toe link and ended up 14th-quickest.

Practice 2 takes place tomorrow morning at 01:45 AEST, and Qualifying at 05:00 AEST, with both sessions streamed live and ad-free on Stan Sport.

Results: Practice 1