Alonso on song in Valencia

Alonso: Top of second practice

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Spaniard Fernando Alonso topped the charts during the second practice session for Sunday's European GP in Valencia, with both Brawn GP cars following close behind.

Home driver Alonso clocked the best time around the winding street circuit of one minute 39.404 seconds, seven tenths faster than second-placed Jenson Button.

Fellow Brawn GP driver Rubens Barrichello, who had set the pace in the first session, was a full three seconds off Alonso's pace.

With track temperatures rising and dust cleared from the track, the times were significantly reduced in the second session of practice.

It was a mixed session for Renault's Alonso in front of his home fans, with him later crashing out, but it was also good news for Brawn, who look to be right back up with the pace following three disappointing races.

Revisions

A number of revisions made to the BGP 001 for this weekend appear to have had the desired effect, with championship leader Button second and Rubens Barrichello third.

The Brawns were in fact switching between two different set-ups in their effort to rediscover their early-season form, which saw Button win six of the first seven races.

The team began the session running the car in the form it contested the Spanish Grand Prix in May, and ended it in the specification used in Hungary last time out.

More crucially for Brawn, their nearest challengers in both the drivers' and constructors' championship - Red Bull - had a miserable session.

Mark Webber, second in the championship to Button, finished down in 14th while Sebastian Vettel, who on Friday morning signed a new contract extension with the team, claimed ninth.

Crash

Alonso's session hit the skids in spectacular fashion with just over 15 minutes remaining, the Renault driver missing his braking point and slamming into the side of the BMW Sauber of Nick Heidfeld, pitching the German's car into the air in the final corner.

It was a wild moment which raised a chuckle from the watching Michael Schumacher on the Ferrari pit wall, but Heidfeld was less amused, calling the incident "plain stupid" on the pit-to-car radio.

Williams continued to impress in the Valencia sunshine, Friday practice specialist Nico Rosberg taking fourth ahead of team-mate Kazuki Nakajima, while Force India's Adrian Sutil did a sterling job to replicate his sixth place from this morning.

McLaren's Lewis Hamilton sat out the bulk of the session following an early spin which left him with damaged front wing supports, although the problem is expected to be resolved for qualifying tomorrow.

Stand-in Ferrari driver Luca Badoer again looked far from convincing as he finished down in 18th place, better only than Toro Rosso's Jaime Alguersuari and the stricken Hamilton.

Badoer, 38, is preparing for his first grand prix in a decade after getting called up by the Scuderia following Felipe Massa's qualifying accident in Hungary.

Another new boy, Renault's Romain Grosjean, fared somewhat better than Badoer, finishing 13th, albeit over 1.3 seconds down on team-mate Alonso.