Briscoe fastest in second practice

A year on from the pitlane error that cost Briscoe the 2009 title, he took first place from Tony Kanaan just before the half-hour mark with a 27.2382s lap that remained the benchmark for the rest of the extended 70-minute session.

Helio Castroneves later moved into second, 0.0387 seconds behind Briscoe, while their team-mate Will Power - who had topped morning practice - was sixth this time.

Kanaan ended up third ahead of his Andretti Autosport team-mate Danica Patrick.

KV Racing achieved a front row start at Motegi with Mario Moraes last year and showed good form this afternoon too as EJ Viso claimed fifth place.

Power's title rival Dario Franchitti (Ganassi) was right behind him in seventh, followed by Andretti's Marco Andretti and Ryan Hunter-Reay, and Panther's Dan Wheldon.

After his morning accident, which was due to a broken oil line spilling fluid onto his tyres, Takuma Sato got out for the final part of the session and managed 26 laps as he felt his way around the Japanese oval. That left him 22nd, 0.6s off the pace.

Fellow local favourites Hideki Mutoh (Newman/Haas) and Roger Yasukawa (Conquest) were 16th and 23rd.

Pos  Driver               Team               Time      Gap
 1.  Ryan Briscoe         Penske             27.2382s
 2.  Helio Castroneves    Penske             27.2769s  + 0.0387s
 3.  Tony Kanaan          Andretti           27.3223s  + 0.0841s
 4.  Danica Patrick       Andretti           27.3732s  + 0.1350s
 5.  EJ Viso              KV                 27.3836s  + 0.1454s
 6.  Will Power           Penske             27.4062s  + 0.1680s
 7.  Dario Franchitti     Ganassi            27.4294s  + 0.1912s
 8.  Marco Andretti       Andretti           27.4632s  + 0.2250s
 9.  Ryan Hunter-Reay     Andretti           27.4939s  + 0.2557s
10.  Dan Wheldon          Panther            27.5048s  + 0.2666s
11.  Scott Dixon          Ganassi            27.5468s  + 0.3086s
12.  Vitor Meira          Foyt               27.6191s  + 0.3809s
13.  Alex Tagliani        FAZZT              27.6310s  + 0.3928s
14.  Bertrand Baguette    Conquest           27.6725s  + 0.4343s
15.  Graham Rahal         Newman/Haas        27.6789s  + 0.4407s
16.  Hideki Mutoh         Newman/Haas        27.7078s  + 0.4696s
17.  Justin Wilson        Dreyer & Reinbold  27.7083s  + 0.4701s
18.  Mario Moraes         KV                 27.7905s  + 0.5523s
19.  Paul Tracy           Dreyer & Reinbold  27.7927s  + 0.5545s
20.  Alex Lloyd           Dale Coyne         27.8292s  + 0.5910s
21.  Raphael Matos        De Ferran Dragon   27.8572s  + 0.6190s
22.  Takuma Sato          KV                 27.8727s  + 0.6345s
23.  Roger Yasukawa       Conquest           27.9404s  + 0.7022s
24.  Milka Duno           Dale Coyne         28.3537s  + 1.1155s
25.  Simona de Silvestro  HVM                28.4374s  + 1.1992s