Ryan Briscoe set the pace in the sole free practice session before qualifying for the IndyCar Series race at Watkins Glen.

The Penske driver, who has not won since the St. Petersburg season opener, hit the front with a 1m29.860s lap with 15 minutes to go, and then shaved another tenth off it to guarantee he would end the morning on top.

Dario Franchitti took second for Ganassi, with Marco Andretti giving Andretti Green a boost by surging to third with his final lap of the session, which pushed Graham Rahal (Newman/Haas/Lanigan) down to fourth. Mario Moraes ended up fifth, but for much of the morning the KV Racing driver had been fastest, only being pushed back during the final runs.

Justin Wilson also took a turn on top, the Dale Coyne Racing driver revelling in the championship's return to road courses, before taking sixth in the end.

Three-time Watkins Glen winner Scott Dixon (Ganassi) was eighth behind AGR's Tony Kanaan and ahead of Helio Castroneves (Penske) and Hideki Mutoh (AGR).

Indy Lights graduate Richard Antinucci took a highly praiseworthy 15th in his first IndyCar session, producing the 3G car's best form of the season so far.

Among the big names he beat were last year's Watkins Glen winner Ryan Hunter-Reay, who was only 16th for A.J. Foyt Racing, and Paul Tracy, who struggled with understeer on his return to KV Racing.

Most of the incidents in the session involved Dreyer & Reinbold drivers. Milka Duno, back this weekend in place of Tomas Scheckter as both drivers are on part-season deals, caused the first stoppage by spinning and stalling at Turn 8 early in the opening half-hour segment for rookies and drivers outside the top 10. Her teammate Mike Conway then prompted the next yellow with a "stupid mistake" at Turn 7, where he spun into the tires and ended his morning after just six laps.

Duno hit further trouble later, parking in the escape road at the Bus Stop chicane having banged wheels with Moraes on the approach to the corner.

HVM's EJ Viso was the only non-D&R driver to have a notable accident -- bringing the session to a close with a spectacular high-speed spin over the curbs on the exit of the Bus Stop.

TIMES:
Pos  Driver             Team                 Time        Gap

 1.  Ryan Briscoe       Penske               1m29.7715s

 2.  Dario Franchitti   Ganassi              1m29.9424s  + 0.1709s

 3.  Marco Andretti     Andretti Green       1m30.0892s  + 0.3177s

 4.  Graham Rahal       Newman/Haas/Lanigan  1m30.2503s  + 0.4788s

 5.  Mario Moraes       KV                   1m30.3020s  + 0.5305s

 6.  Justin Wilson      Coyne                1m30.4157s  + 0.6442s

 7.  Tony Kanaan        Andretti Green       1m30.4338s  + 0.6623s

 8.  Scott Dixon        Ganassi              1m30.4947s  + 0.7232s

 9.  Helio Castroneves  Penske               1m30.5572s  + 0.7857s

10.  Hideki Mutoh       Andretti Green       1m30.5979s  + 0.8264s

11.  Danica Patrick     Andretti Green       1m30.6576s  + 0.8861s

12.  EJ Viso            HVM                  1m30.8014s  + 1.0299s

13.  Dan Wheldon        Panther              1m30.8392s  + 1.0677s

14.  Robert Doornbos    Newman/Haas/Lanigan  1m31.1722s  + 1.4007s

15.  Richard Antinucci  3G                   1m31.6809s  + 1.9094s

16.  Ryan Hunter-Reay   Foyt                 1m31.7804s  + 2.0089s

17.  Paul Tracy         KV                   1m32.030s   + 2.2588s

18.  Mike Conway        Dreyer & Reinbold    1m32.3092s  + 2.5377s

19.  Raphael Matos      Luczo Dragon         1m32.3355s  + 2.5640s

20.  Ed Carpenter       Vision               1m32.8942s  + 3.1227s

21.  Milka Duno         Dreyer & Reinbold    1m34.4816s  + 4.7101s