Will Power shows the way in opening Indy 500 practice

Will Power led a Team Penske 1-2 in the opening day of Indianapolis 500 practice.

The driver of the No. 12 Verizon 5G Chevrolet for Team Penske began his quest to defend his Indy 500 crown by scorching the 2.5-mile oval with a lap of 39.1738 seconds (229.745 mph).

IndyCar Grand Prix winner Simon Pagenaud clocked a flyer of 39.1810 seconds, a scant .0072s behind his Aussie teammate.

Three-time 500 polesitter Ed Carpenter split up the Team Penske steam train with the third quickest lap at 228.653 mph with Indy-only Penske driver Helio Castroneves clocking the fourth fastest time.

Honda-powered cars filled the next five spots with Harding Steinbrenner Racing rookie Colton Herta carrying the flag. Herta, who was victorious in last year's Indy Lights Freedom 100, logged the fifth fastest time at 39.4246s. The 19-year-old rookie brought out the only non-debris yellow of the day when he spun exiting pit road in Turn 2. He only suffered a flat-spotted tyre.

Four-time Indy car champion Sebastien Bourdais ended up sixth ahead of three Andretti Autosport entries led by Zach Veach, 2016 race winner Alexander Rossi and 2006 runner-up Marco Andretti.

Ed Jones, who finished third in his rookie 500 in 2017 made it two Ed Carpenter Racing cars in the top ten by completing the top ten.

A trio of former Indy winners and series champions slotted in positions 12-14 with Ryan Hunter-Reay leading Scott Dixon and Takuma Sato.

Series points leader Josef Newgarden didn't make much of a splash on opening day as he only logged the 17th quickest time in his No. 2 Team Penske Chevrolet.

The quickest of the Indy-only entries went to Dreyer and Reinbold Racing's JR Hildebrand in 15th.

The second Indy 500 for Fernando Alonso and first for the bespoke McLaren team got off to a rough start. The two-time Formula One world champion completed his veteran refresher test but endured mechanical problems in the afternoon which sent him behind the wall. He still completed 50 laps and ended up with the 32nd quickest time at 40.1496s.

Seven drivers also completed their rookie or refresher tests with the fastest being the Juncos Racing entry of Kyle Kaiser. The 2017 Indy Lights champion gave the team a reason to smile having lost their financial backing for the 500 just this past weekend by logging the 21st fastest overall time at 39.7509 seconds.

Also finishing their refresher tests were Sage Karam, Pippa Mann and James Davison. Jordan King finished all phases of his rookie orientation while DragonSpeed's Ben Hanley completed two out of the three required phases.

Carlin Racing rookie Patricio O'Ward encountered gearbox issues in his No. 31 Chevrolet which prevented him from finishing his rookie program. He will have the opportunity to complete his program tomorrow morning before Day 2 practice begins.