Izod IndyCar Series leader Will Power has ended the category’s first ever day of running on Japan’s Motegi road course as the fastest man.
The IndyCar schedule usually includes a race at Motegi’s oval, but damage to the banked course inflicted by the earthquake that hit Japan in March has seen a one-off move to the road course for this year.
The Australian lapped the 4.8km circuit in 1:39.47s during Friday’s single 75 minute practice session to beat Penske Racing team-mate Helio Castroneves by 0.12s.
James Hinchcliffe (Newman/Haas), Ryan Briscoe (Penske Racing) and Marco Andretti (Andretti Autosport) rounded out the top five.
“It’s a very, very nice circuit,” said Power after the session.
“It’s smooth, flowing. It’s one of the nicest circuits we’ve been to all year.”
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See below for the full practice order
| 1 | Will Power | Penske | 1m39.4745s | |
| 2 | Helio Castroneves | Penske | 1m39.5965s | 0.1220s |
| 3 | James Hinchcliffe | Newman/Haas | 1m39.8531s | 0.3786s |
| 4 | Ryan Briscoe | Penske | 1m40.1887s | 0.7142s |
| 5 | Marco Andretti | Andretti | 1m40.2584s | 0.7839s |
| 6 | Alex Tagliani | Sam Schmidt | 1m40.2649s | 0.7904s |
| 7 | Dario Franchitti | Ganassi | 1m40.3108s | 0.8363s |
| 8 | Joao Paulo de Oliveir | Conquest | 1m40.3299s | 0.8554s |
| 9 | Sebastien Bourdais | Dale Coyne | 1m40.3948s | 0.9203s |
| 10 | Takuma Sato | KV | 1m40.4435s | 0.9690s |
| 11 | Hideki Mutoh | AFS/Sam Schmidt | 1m40.5328s | 1.0583s |
| 12 | JR Hildebrand | Panther | 1m40.5435s | 1.0690s |
| 13 | James Jakes | Dale Coyne | 1m40.5580s | 1.0835s |
| 14 | Tony Kanaan | KV | 1m40.6600s | 1.1855s |
| 15 | Scott Dixon | Ganassi | 1m40.7175s | 1.2430s |
| 16 | Ryan Hunter-Reay | Andretti | 1m40.7389s | 1.2644s |
| 17 | Vitor Meira | Foyt | 1m40.7961s | 1.3216s |
| 18 | EJ Viso | KV | 1m40.8351s | 1.3606s |
| 19 | Oriol Servia | Newman/Haas | 1m40.8577s | 1.3832s |
| 20 | Charlie Kimball | Ganassi | 1m40.9505s | 1.4760s |
| 21 | Giorgio Pantano | Dreyer & Reinbold | 1m40.9659s | 1.4914s |
| 22 | Graham Rahal | Ganassi | 1m41.2056s | 1.7311s |
| 23 | Mike Conway | Andretti | 1m41.2987s | 1.8242s |
| 24 | Danica Patrick | Andretti | 1m41.4164s | 1.9419s |
| 25 | Simona de Silvestro | HVM | 1m41.4495s | 1.9750s |
| 26 | Ana Beatriz | Dreyer & Reinbold | 1m41.4711s | 1.9966s |
