Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon in the No.9 PNC Bank Honda was second fastest in the opening practice session for Sunday’s Acura Grand Pri of Long Beach on Friday with a fastest time of 01:06.9649s and speaking following the action the Iceman who will be inducted into the Motorsports Hall Of Fame Of America next March as part of the class of 2024 commented saying:
“It was a pretty up-and-down session. There was a lot of traffic out there with everybody trying to get their tire temperatures right. We finished second; One spot better would have been nice. We’ve got a lot of work to do overnight but we rolled off well and I think all four cars have a real good shot.”
Marcus Ericsson in the No.8 Huski Chocolate Honda was fourth fastest with a time of 01:06.9859s and speaking following the action the Swede commented saying:
“I think it was a good session for us. We rolled off with strong cars, as usual, and felt comfortable out there. We made some changes that we had planned and we got some good reads. We’ll do some homework tonight and see what’s best for tomorrow, but we’re definitely in the mix. The car feels good and I’m confident out there. This atmosphere is great with a lot of fans out here already, so it’s going to be a great weekend.”
Alex Palou in the No.10 Ridgeline Lubricants Honda was sixth fastest with a time of 01:07.1515s and speaking following the action he commented saying:
“As always, practice was working through the field of traffic. But the No. 10 Ridgeline Lubricants car was really good on blacks. Let’s see how it is tomorrow on softs but it’s always good to be driving here in Long Beach.”
Marcus Armstrong in the No.11 The American Legion Honda ended the session in 19th place and speaking following the action he said:
“It was a good first run at Long Beach. I would say that it was pretty carefree, to be honest. I think we had a good car underneath us; It’s just a matter of actually doing the lap through a bit of traffic that’s around. It’s quite cold, so the tires weren’t coming in super quickly, but apart from that I think it was really good. No mistakes really, and this is something that we can build on for the next session.”