Team Mugen driver Nojiri set a best lap of 1m38.895s in the closing moments of Friday afternoon's 90-minute session, which was the only running ahead of qualifying for the first of two races at Suzuka on Saturday morning.
That was enough for Nojiri, who has to make up a 10-point deficit to TOM'S man Miyata, to top the session by 0.230 seconds amid a flurry of late improvements on new tyres late on.
