Michigami tops big Motegi Nippon test

Michigami topped the times with 1m34.330s with compatriot Satoshi Motoyama (Team Impul) just 0.031s slower. They were followed by Takeshi Tsuchiya of Team ARTA on 1m 34.693s and his team mate, former Jordan test driver Juichi Wakisaka, who lapped in 1m34.786s.

England's Ralph Firman was fifth quickest in his first test with former F1 racer Saturo Nakajima's title-winning team with a time of 1m34.801s. Fellow Briton Richard Lyons was the highest non-Reynard in his Nova-run G Force, but that was only good for 16th fastest on 1m36.656s.

Of their fellow 'foreigners', Macau GP winner Andre Couto crashed on the first day which ended his test, restricting him to 18th. India's Narain Karthikeyan hit gearbox problems towards the end of the second session after going 11th quickest, while Malaysia's Alex Yoong hit similar problems and was 15th.

Last year's series runner-up, Germany's Michael Krumm, missed the test due to contesting the opening round of the FedEx Champ Car series in Mexico.