Dixon’s Indy threat is up close

Scott Dixon doesn’t have to look far to find one of the biggest threats to his quest to gain a seventh Indycar title.

His new team-mate at Chip Ganassi Racing, Spain’s Alex Palou, has shown the early speed and Dixon anticipates ‘‘a hell of a fight’’ to see who is top dog in the team.

Palou won the season-opener in Alabama with Dixon third. Squeezed between them was Australian Will Power from Team Penske.

Polau, 24, is a former GP3 and Super GT driver now in his second year in Indycars after a difficult rookie season with Dale Coyne Racing. His move to the high-profile Chip Ganassi Racing has paid quick dividends and Dixon expects more to come.

‘‘He turned up strong, and it was the first one of the season. You can’t start a season any better than that, and I’m just feel real happy for him and the 10 car team, and it’s definitely going to be a hell of a fight,’’ Dixon told Autosport, adding that Palou had a personality to suit the team.

‘‘It’s great to see somebody that’s easy to work with.

‘‘Some drivers that we all get to work with can be somewhat difficult, but he also is extremely willing and wanting to learn, asks a lot of questions, sends a lot of text messages to try and just do a better job.

‘‘He’s been a real pleasure to work with through these times, the same with Marcus [Ericsson] throughout the season, obviously Jimmie [Johnson], as well.’’

Dixon said Polau had impressed in the team’s testing sessions but turning that into race wins was another matter.

‘‘It’s hard to judge that, I think, just for the sheer fact that there’s so many great teams, especially when you get to the first few races, it’s hard to solidly know.

‘‘But his speed has been really good in preseason testing.’’

The Indycar season switches to Florida this weekend with the street circuit in St Petersburg. Dixon’s fellow Kiwi Scott McLaughlin will be out to build on his 14th in Alabama as he starts a full time Indycar career with Team Penske.