TORONTO - On a rain interrupted first day of practice for the IZOD IndyCar Indianapolis 500, Ed Carpenter was a surprise fastest hitting 224.786 m.p.h. in the No. 67 Sarah Fisher Racing Dallara Honda.

The top Canadian was Paul Tracy who put down a lap of 222.295 m.p.h., good enough for 11th fastest among 32 cars who took to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway 2.5-mile quad oval on Saturday in the No. 23 Dreyer & Reinbold Racing machine.

Rookie James Hinchcliffe of Oakville, Ont., was 17th on the leaderboard at 221.454 m.p.h. in the No. 06 Newman Haas Racing car.

Montreal’s Alex Tagliani had not yet taken to the track for practice before rain halted the proceedings.

Tracy was happy with his effort, he first at the big track since failing to make the race last year.

“Great first day, 10th, 11th fast for (teammate) Justin (Wilson) and I , good job D&r,” Tracy tweeted.

Two-time IndyCar champion Scott Dixon of New Zealand was second fastest on the day at 224.491 m.p.h. for Chip Ganassi Racing and American rookie JR Hildebrand was third at 224.433 m.p.h. for Panther Racing.