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Alonso edges Button at Valencia

World Champion Fernando Alonso topped the times during a thrilling test session at Valencia in Spain on Thursday as a late extension allowed teams to try out some mock qualifying runs

A late red flag caused when Heikki Kovalainen's Renault coasted to a halt on the start-finish straight gave teams a 10-minute window of opportunity to put in some quick times at the end of the day - and almost everyone decided to try out simulated low-fuel runs on new tyres.

Alonso came out on top of that battle, setting the best lap of 1.10.904 - although interestingly second fastest Jenson Button's best lap had come earlier in the day at the end of a long run before his Honda engine had spectacularly blown up.

Third fastest Felipe Massa continued working with the V8-powered F2004, but all eyes at Ferrari remained on Valentino Rossi - who was also sent out for a low-fuel new tyre run in the final 10 minutes.

Rossi managed to set the 12th fastest time despite spinning fives times during the day. But his day would end in the gravel after getting caught up in a bit of side-by-side action with McLaren's Juan Pablo Montoya and BMW's Jacques Villeneuve.

Rossi was closing in on Montoya into turn 4 when he lost control and spun off. This also left Villeneuve off the track, as he attempted to avoid the spinning Ferrari of Rossi.

But that moment did not detract from the enjoyment the Italian expressed about his testing performance this week.

Speaking after the day's running, which included four other spins, Rossi said: "It was a wonderful opportunity for me and I am very satisfied.

"However I now go back to testing motorbikes, which are my priority this year. Ferrari and myself have two championships to do 100 percent now. As usual, we hope to be able to win in both."

Fourth fastest Anthony Davidson continued to show impressive form from Honda, after also setting his best time late in the day having spent his earlier running focusing on tyre compound evaluation.

Further down the field, Williams continued to face mechanical problems as they continue development work on their seamless shift gearbox.

Alexander Wurz, who was 10th fastest, and Nico Rosberg who was 11th, both caused two red flags each during the course of the day.

Juan Pablo Montoya did not bring out a red flag but he suffered more engine woes as a Mercedes-Benz failure cost him four hours of running. The Colombian made the most of his break, however, to spend time playing on his PlayStation in the McLaren motorhome.

Today's times:

Pos  Driver        Team                      Time      Laps
 1.  Alonso        Renault              (M)  1:10.904   90
 2.  Button        Honda                (M)  1:10.907   85
 3.  Massa         Ferrari              (B)  1:11.284   50
 4.  Davidson      Honda                (M)  1:11.573  128
 5.  M.Schumacher  Ferrari              (B)  1:11.649   48
 6.  Klien         Red Bull-Ferrari     (M)  1:11.796   71
 7.  Kovalainen    Renault              (M)  1:12.011   89
 8.  Villeneuve    BMW-Sauber           (M)  1:12.179  104
 9.  R.Schumacher  Toyota               (B)  1:12.182   92
10.  Wurz          Williams-Cosworth    (B)  1:12.246   84
11.  Rosberg       Williams-Cosworth    (B)  1:12.313   46
12.  Rossi         Ferrari              (B)  1:12.315   54
13.  de la Rosa    McLaren-Mercedes     (M)  1:12.360   92
14.  Montoya       McLaren-Mercedes     (M)  1:12.488   61
15.  Trulli        Toyota               (B)  1:12.525   72
16.  Kubica        BMW-Sauber           (M)  1:12.811   48

All Timing Unofficial

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