Scott Dixon and Dario Franchitti put Ganassi at the top of the standings in the second IndyCar practice session at Motegi.

The pair were fastest in their respective segments in the split session, with Franchitti on course to be quickest on combined times until Dixon beat his benchmark by 0.0639sec with a few minutes to go.

2008 race winner Danica Patrick (Andretti Green) and current points leader Ryan Briscoe (Penske), both from the first group, were third and fourth. KV's Mario Moraes was second to Dixon in group two and claimed fifth overall from Newman/Haas/Lanigan's Graham Rahal in the closing moments.

Raphael Matos continued to show strong form for Luczo Dragon in seventh, ahead of morning pacesetter Helio Castroneves (Penske). Foyt's Ryan Hunter-Reay and Newman/Haas/Lanigan's Oriol Servia again filled the top ten.

Patrick was the only Andretti Green driver near the front, with her team-mates Marco Andretti, Tony Kanaan and top local driver Hideki Mutoh down in 12th, 16th and 17th.

The first session was briefly interrupted by moisture on track, and although no rain fell during the 90 minutes, this afternoon's qualifying session has been brought forward by half an hour to  3 p.m. local time in an attempt to get the grid set before forecast rain arrives later on.

Pos  Driver             Team                 Time      Gap
 1.  Scott Dixon        Ganassi              27.0750s
 2.  Dario Franchitti   Ganassi              27.1389s  + 0.0639s
 3.  Danica Patrick     Andretti Green       27.2341s  + 0.1591s
 4.  Ryan Briscoe       Penske               27.2603s  + 0.1853s
 5.  Mario Moraes       KV                   27.3146s  + 0.2396s
 6.  Graham Rahal       Newman/Haas/Lanigan  27.3185s  + 0.2435s
 7.  Raphael Matos      Luczo Dragon         27.3723s  + 0.2973s
 8.  Helio Castroneves  Penske               27.3732s  + 0.2982s
 9.  Ryan Hunter-Reay   Foyt                 27.3949s  + 0.3199s
10.  Oriol Servia       Newman/Haas/Lanigan  27.4116s  + 0.3366s
11.  EJ Viso            HVM                  27.4199s  + 0.3449s
12.  Marco Andretti     Andretti Green       27.4328s  + 0.3578s
13.  Dan Wheldon        Panther              27.4482s  + 0.3732s
14.  Justin Wilson      Coyne                27.4879s  + 0.4129s
15.  Tomas Scheckter    Dreyer & Reinbold    27.4905s  + 0.4155s
16.  Tony Kanaan        Andretti Green       27.4982s  + 0.4232s
17.  Hideki Mutoh       Andretti Green       27.5014s  + 0.4264s
18.  Ed Carpenter       Vision               27.5735s  + 0.4985s
19.  Roger Yasukawa     Dreyer & Reinbold    27.6662s  + 0.5912s
20.  Kosuke Matsuura    Conquest             27.6680s  + 0.5930s
21.  Mike Conway        Dreyer & Reinbold    27.6843s  + 0.6093s
22.  Robert Doornbos    HVM                  27.7629s  + 0.6879s
23.  Stanton Barrett    3G                   28.6897s  + 1.6147s