Wheldon seventh fastest at 'changeable' Motegi.

Dan Wheldon's bid for a third straight IRL IndyCar Series win at the Twin Ring Motegi oval got off to a steady start on a damp Thursday in Japan as the Englishman finished the only practice session of the day with the seventh fastest time.

With rain hampering the IRL schedule and restricting the driver to just one 45-minute session on the 1.5-mile oval, Wheldon and his #10 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Dallara-Honda team worked their way down to a best time of 27.5243 seconds, more than three tenths of a second slower than practice pacesetter and current championship leader Helio Castroneves.

"We got a bit of a baseline at least today but I can't really say that the times today were indicative of what we'll see tomorrow or race day," said the 2004 and 2005 Motegi winner and current defending series champion. "Things change so quickly here and certainly did today."

After his bizarre retirement in St Petersburg, a performance akin to those he achieved in 2004 and 2005 would put Wheldon right back in the thick of the title chase on the heels of Castroneves and would also set an IRL record.

"No one has won three times at the same track (consecutively) and I'd love to be able to do that here. This track has been very good to me, the fans are fantastic and passionate, so there's a lot to look forward to on race day."

Wheldon's teammate Scott Dixon found the conditions a little more taxing, finishing 15th on the lap charts.

"The weather at this track is the biggest factor," said the 2003 IRL Champ. "Today we really just saw it all; Rain then sun, huge changes in wind direction, and a big drop in temperature all within an hour. With the split sessions you really can't compare the track conditions even if they were just a half hour apart. I think we'll be in good shape. This is an interesting and challenging track and I'm looking forward to battling up front for the chequered."