Alesi stars at Hockenheim

Alesi's 1m34.763s compared very favourably with TK's 1m35.660s to give the opposition some food for thought ahead of tomorrow's qualifying session. Opel's Marcel Fassler made it three marques in the top three positions, the Swiss just a tenth shy of Kristensen's time.

Christijan Albers was fourth fastest in his Mercedes, the Dutchman setting his time after repairs were required to the left-rear of his C-Class following an earlier problem. Mattias Ekstrom was fifth for Audi, ahead of Merc's Gary Paffett, who struggled to find a perfect balance.

Timo Scheider (Opel) was seventh quickest, ahead of Martin Tomczyk (Audi), Emanuele Pirro (Audi) and another ex-F1 star, Heinz-Harald Frentzen. The latter entertained his fans with a spectacular spin at the Sachs Kurve.

Outside the top 10, opening session pacesetter Laurent Aiello was only 14th, one spot behind reigning champion Bernd Schneider (Mercedes) but one ahead of Opel team-mate Peter Dumbreck, who complained of a lack of grip on new tyres.

There is a further hour of free practice tomorrow, when teams will most likely be concentrating on qualifying set-up.

Jean Alesi, Mercedes C-Class, 1m34.763s
Tom Kristensen, Audi A4, 1m35.660s
Marcel Fassler, Opel Vectra GTS, 1m35.757s
Christijan Albers, Mercedes C-Class, 1m35.792s
Mattias Ekstrom, Audi A4, 1m35.900s
Gary Paffett, Mercedes C-Class, 1m35.954s
Timo Scheider, Opel Vectra GTS, 1m36.035s
Martin Tomczyk, Audi A4, 1m36.053s
Emanuele Pirro, Audi A4, 1m36.125s
Heinz-Harald Frentzen, Opel Vectra GTS, 1m36.274s