Herta reported that his team began the day by going back to basics after a disappointing run in the recent tests with the first three-litre engines, while Franchitti's day ended earlier than expected after he clipped the wall.
"We were just doing the usual, trying to get balance in the car, but the wind basically got into the side of the car and blew me up into the wall," the Scot explained, "There's no other explanation. One moment, everything was fine, and the next, the car was pushing. A big gust of wind just basically pushed the nose right up into the wall. That was certainly not what we wanted today."
Series returnee Al Unser Jr, running with Pat Patrick from Indy onwards, clocked the 15th fastest time of the day.
"Things look really good," the veteran admitted, "The team's getting to know one another and that's what we're learning right now. I definitely feel at home. Going out on the track today was fantastic, and I had a lot of fun."
Robbie Buhl's regular car was on track, but the American wasn't in it, having announced his retirement late last week. Instead, replacement Felipe Giaffone was getting his first taste of IRL 2004, clocking in in a promising twelfth spot.
"It felt pretty good for my first time back in a car - any open-wheel car - after seven months," the Brazilian smiled, "The team gave me a really good car to start with. Conditions weren't very good, and it was very gusty this afternoon. The car was running okay this morning but, in the afternoon, with the wind and everything, we decided to stop."
Testing continues today [Thursday].
Leading times - Indianapolis (28 April):
Sam Hornish Jr Penske
Dallara-Toyota 41.0451secs
Helio Castroneves Penske
Dallara-Toyota 41.0480secs
Robby Gordon Gordon
Dallara-Chevrolet 41.1107secs
Scott Dixon Ganassi
GForce-Toyota 41.1191secs
Darren Manning Ganassi
GForce-Toyota 41.2241secs
Ed Carpenter Cheever
Dallara-Chevrolet 41.2870secs
Alex Barron Cheever
Dallara-Chevrolet 41.5595secs
Kosuke Matsuura SAFR
GForce-Honda 41.5843secs
Scott Sharp Kelley
Dallara-Toyota 41.6537secs
Dan Wheldon AGR
Dallara-Honda 41.8036secs
Buddy Rice Rahal
GForce-Honda 41.8688secs
Felipe Giaffone Dreyer&Reinbold
Dallara-Chevrolet 41.9022secs
Bruno Junqueira NHR
GForce-Honda 42.0193secs
Vitor Meira Rahal
GForce-Honda 42.0644secs
Al Unser Jr Patrick
Dallara-Chevrolet 42.1067secs
AJ Foyt IV Foyt
Dallara-Toyota 42.1910secs
Bryan Herta AGR
Dallara-Honda 42.2121secs
Tora Takagi Mo Nunn
Dallara-Toyota 42.2652secs
Adrian Fernandez Fernandez
GForce-Honda 42.5667secs
Dario Franchitti AGR
Dallara-Honda 42.6617secs
Sarah Fisher Kelley
Dallara-Toyota 42.7146secs
Greg Ray Access
GForce-Honda 42.7616secs
Marty Roth Roth
Dallara-Toyota 44.3550secs
