FRIDAY SEBRING SPRING TRAINING REPORT

 INDYCAR: Friday Sebring Spring Training Report
 
Ganassi's Dario Franchitti is becoming more in-sync with his new Dallara DW12-Honda, posting the fastest time Friday morning with a 52.14-second lap.
 
Marshall Pruett - March 9, 2012 
  
Ganassi's Dario Franchitti is quickly becoming more in-sync with his new Dallara DW12-Honda, posting the fastest time Friday morning with a 52.14-second lap.

With his new right-foot brake pedal assembly in place, the four-time IZOD IndyCar Series champion says finding the last little bits of speed with the car is now possible.

"It's just learning and more learning," he told SPEED.com. "We're looking for those small bits of time that weren't there before with the old [brake pedal] setup. That's the main thing we're focused on at the moment."

One of Franchitti's new rivals, ex-Formula One man Rubens Barrichello, continues to lead the Chevrolet-powered KV Racing team on the time charts, posting a 52.16 to slightly trail the Scot.

Panther Racing's JR Hildebrand has crept up to the pace in testing at Sebring, and found more speed Friday morning, running third with a lap of 52.20 seconds in the sunny, 80-degree Florida weather.

Scott Dixon, Franchitti's teammate, set the fourth-fastest lap with a 52.22-second tour, followed by A.J. Foyt Racing's Mike Conway in fifth.

Conway's 52.38-second lap gave Honda a 1-2-4-5 in the morning session.

Rahal Letterman Lanigan's Takuma Sato made it 1-2-4-5-6 for Honda with a 52.384 (to Conway's .382), and KV's E.J. Viso went seventh with a 52.69-second lap.

Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing's Josef Newgarden made steady improvement overnight, placing eighth on the team's second-ever day of running with the Dallara DW12-Honda with a lap of 52.83 seconds.

Ganassi's Charlie Kimball was slightly behind his fellow Firestone Indy Lights graduate with a 52.87-second lap in his Honda-powered entry, and Bryan Herta Autosport's Alex Tagliani closed out the top 10 with a 52.93-second lap, the first of the Lotus-engined cars.

Like the SFHR team, BHA is in its second day of testing with its car and ran a rather impressive lap to encourage the Lotus camp.

Lotus DRR's Oriol Servia was the first driver in the 53-second bracket, posting a 53.22-second lap and Graham Rahal, who has been towards the top at most tests during the off season, was back in 12th.

Sebastien Bourdais took over from Katherine Legge in Dragon Racing's Dallara DW12-Lotus on Friday morning, turning a 53.29-second lap.

Tony Kanaan's frustrating test continued as the 2004 IndyCar Series champion placed 14th with a 53.50.

Ed Carpenter rounded out the running order with a lap of 54.35 seconds.

IndyCar's Spring Training is set to conclude at the end of this afternoon's session.