Davidson remains on top in Australia

The British driver, who clocked his best lap late in the session, finished up fastest ahead of Alexander Wurz in a Williams and Robert Kubica in a BMW Sauber.

Fellow-Briton Jenson Button was fourth in his Honda ahead of defending champion Fernando Alonso in his Renault, with seven-times champion Michael Schumacher sixth for Ferrari.

If anything, the weather in the afternoon was cooler and cloudier than it had been in the morning, but with an air temperature of 22 degrees Celsius and a track temperature of 25 degrees, it remained comfortable.

The early part of the session saw several drivers running off and recovering to return to the circuit, notably Yuji Ide in his Super Aguri, who went off at turns one and nine, the Clark and Brabham chicanes respectively.

He was followed by Briton David Coulthard in his Red Bull Ferrari, Vitantionio Liuzzi in a Toro Rosso and then Felipe Massa, in his Ferrari.

The crowd - the grandstands looked three-quarters full - enjoyed seeing not just some action, but also big name drivers out on the track.

Jacques Villeneuve, who had done so much to entertain the spectators in the morning, did the same in his BMW Sauber in the afternoon, running off and recovering at the first chicane.

On track, it was defending champion Alonso who led the way in his Renault, the Spaniard clocking an early fastest time and staying on top with a lap in 1:27.443.

The closest in pursuit were Michael Schumacher in his Ferrari and soon afterwards Button in his Honda, who clocked a lap in 1:27.213 to take over at the top after half an hour.

Eight minutes later, Button was outpaced by Williams third driver Alexander Wurz, who delivered a lap in 1:26.832 before Liuzzi lost control of his Toro Rosso Cosworth at the Walte Curve, having braked late and gone across a kerb.

The Italian's car crashed heavily into the trackside barrier, but he was not injured.

Wurz's time stood unchallenged for some time until Robert Kubica showed his pace, and both his and his BMW's potential, by moving up to second.

With five minutes remaining, Davidson followed up his fastest time in the morning session with another quick lap to take over at the top of the time sheets in one minute and 26.822 seconds in his Honda.

Alonso then did a late lap, during which he went close to losing control briefly at turn 12, and Christijan Albers, in his Midland Toyota, went off heavily at turn five.

Button, pushing in the final seconds, skidded off and on to the grass, but regained control to complete his lap without disturbing the order.

Pos  Driver        Team                     Time             Laps
 1.  Davidson      Honda               (M)  1:26.822          28
 2.  Wurz          Williams-Cosworth   (B)  1:26.832 + 0.010  27
 3.  Kubica        BMW-Sauber          (M)  1:27.200 + 0.378  25
 4.  Button        Honda               (M)  1:27.213 + 0.391  12
 5.  Alonso        Renault             (M)  1:27.443 + 0.621  14
 6.  M.Schumacher  Ferrari             (B)  1:27.658 + 0.836  16
 7.  Raikkonen     McLaren-Mercedes    (M)  1:27.773 + 0.951  16
 8.  Barrichello   Honda               (M)  1:28.075 + 1.253  20
 9.  Montoya       McLaren-Mercedes    (M)  1:28.200 + 1.378  15
10.  Massa         Ferrari             (B)  1:28.227 + 1.405  17
11.  Fisichella    Renault             (M)  1:28.280 + 1.458  11
12.  Villeneuve    BMW-Sauber          (M)  1:28.440 + 1.618  22
13.  Coulthard     Red Bull-Ferrari    (M)  1:28.531 + 1.709  18
14.  Webber        Williams-Cosworth   (B)  1:28.860 + 2.038  10
15.  Heidfeld      BMW-Sauber          (M)  1:29.053 + 2.231   5
16.  Trulli        Toyota              (B)  1:29.138 + 2.316  20
17.  Speed         Toro Rosso-Cosworth (M)  1:29.196 + 2.374  18
18.  R.Schumacher  Toyota              (B)  1:29.379 + 2.557  16
19.  Monteiro      MF1-Toyota          (B)  1:29.713 + 2.891  21
20.  Doornbos      Red Bull-Ferrari    (M)  1:29.876 + 3.054  32
21.  Klien         Red Bull-Ferrari    (M)  1:29.879 + 3.057   9
22.  Rosberg       Williams-Cosworth   (B)  1:29.933 + 3.111  11
23.  Jani          Toro Rosso-Cosworth (M)  1:30.686 + 3.864  26
24.  Liuzzi        Toro Rosso-Cosworth (M)  1:30.734 + 3.912  14
25.  Albers        MF1-Toyota          (B)  1:30.830 + 4.008  18
26.  Winkelhock    MF1-Toyota          (B)  1:31.260 + 4.438  25
27.  Sato          Super Aguri-Honda   (B)  1:32.556 + 5.734  27
28.  Ide           Super Aguri-Honda   (B)  1:34.224 + 7.402  22

All timing unofficial