Scott Dixon was quickest as the three title contenders led the way in Friday morning practice for the IndyCar finale at Homestead.

Points leader Dixon (Ganassi) set his 25.1968s time on only his second flying lap of the session, having sat in the pits at first saving tires and waiting for rubber to build up on the oval.

His run usurped Penske's Ryan Briscoe, who comes into the event eight points behind Dixon. The Australian retained second ahead of Dixon's teammate Dario Franchitti, who sits between them in the standings.

Mario Moraes was the quickest among the rest of the field, beating Briscoe's team-mate Helio Castroneves to fourth. KV Racing's Moraes had been extremely fast in pre-season testing at Homestead and appears set to carry that form into the race weekend.

Newman/Haas/Lanigan's newcomer Alex Lloyd had led the opening half-hour, reserved for rookies and drivers outside the top ten in the championship. The former Indy Lights champion, making only his third IndyCar appearance, held on to eighth behind teammate Graham Rahal and Vision's Ed Carpenter in the rest of the session.

Sarah Fisher, who has a new chassis at her self-run team this weekend, was second to Lloyd in the first segment and ended the morning an impressive ninth, ahead of rookie points leader Raphael Matos (Luczo Dragon).

Pos  Driver             Team                 Time      Gap
 1.  Scott Dixon        Ganassi              25.1968s
 2.  Ryan Briscoe       Penske               25.2191s  + 0.0223s
 3.  Dario Franchitti   Ganassi              25.2267s  + 0.0299s
 4.  Mario Moraes       KV                   25.3245s  + 0.1277s
 5.  Helio Castroneves  Penske               25.3527s  + 0.1559s
 6.  Graham Rahal       Newman/Haas/Lanigan  25.3665s  + 0.1697s
 7.  Ed Carpenter       Vision               25.3698s  + 0.1730s
 8.  Alex Lloyd         Newman/Haas/Lanigan  25.3769s  + 0.1801s
 9.  Sarah Fisher       Fisher               25.4296s  + 0.2328s
10.  Raphael Matos      Luczo Dragon         25.4495s  + 0.2527s
11.  Danica Patrick     Andretti Green       25.4700s  + 0.2732s
12.  Hideki Mutoh       Andretti Green       25.4857s  + 0.2889s
13.  Tony Kanaan        Andretti Green       25.5109s  + 0.3141s
14.  Tomas Scheckter    Dreyer & Reinbold    25.5127s  + 0.3159s
15.  Marco Andretti     Andretti Green       25.5233s  + 0.3265s
16.  Dan Wheldon        Panther              25.5516s  + 0.3548s
17.  Milka Duno         Dreyer & Reinbold    25.5759s  + 0.3791s
18.  Justin Wilson      Coyne                25.5931s  + 0.3963s
19.  Ryan Hunter-Reay   Foyt                 25.6460s  + 0.4492s
20.  EJ Viso            HVM                  25.6465s  + 0.4497s
21.  Mike Conway        Dreyer & Reinbold    25.8506s  + 0.6538s
22.  Robert Doornbos    HVM                  25.9817s  + 0.7849s
23. Jaques Lazier       3G