Alonso sets the pace at Valencia

The Spaniard, fifth fastest yesterday, posted a best time of 1m13.307s around the 1pm mark and stayed there until the end of the day in what was a positive day for the Italian squad, with Alonso covering over 100 laps.

Team-mate Felipe Massa will take over for the final day of the test tomorrow.

Yesterday's pace-setter Sebastian Vettel had to settle for second position after completing 43 laps with the Red Bull RB7.

The German shared the car with team-mate Mark Webber, who got first taste of the new Red Bull in the afternoon, managing 16 laps on his way to the 14th quickest time of the session.

Third quickest in the Force India was Paul di Resta, who continued enjoying a productive test at the wheel of last year's car. Lewis Hamilton, in the hybrid McLaren, and Renault's Robert Kubica completed the top five.

Nico Rosberg, who enjoyed a more productive day than yesterday in the new Mercedes, was sixth quickest.

Heikki Kovalainen took the new Lotus T128 out for its first run, but the Finn's day was cut short due to a problem with the car's power steering.

The Finn managed just 15 laps and finished at the bottom of the times, but he was encouraged by the car's handling.

"Compared to the feeling of last year at Jerez, it is totally different," he said. "Last year after Jerez I knew we had a little bit of work to do in every area, but the whole concept feels right."

Lotus will fly the power steering back to the factory overnight in order to continue testing tomorrow.

There were a total of four red flags during the day, the first caused by Rubens Barrichello's stoppage an hour into the session. A spin by di Resta at 10:30 was then followed by Rosberg stopping with a problem around 2pm.

The final red flag of the day was caused by Sebastien Buemi, whose Toro Rosso stopped on track near the end of the session.

Today's times:

Pos  Driver         Team                   Time               Laps
 1.  Alonso         Ferrari                1m13.307s           108
 2.  Vettel         Red Bull Renault       1m13.614s  +0.307    43
 3.  Di Resta       Force India Mercedes   1m13.844s  +0.537   111 *
 4.  Hamilton       McLaren Mercedes       1m14.353s  +1.046    83 *
 5.  Kubica         Renault                1m14.412s  +1.105   104
 6.  Rosberg        Mercedes               1m14.645s  +1.338    69
 7.  Glock          Virgin Cosworth        1m15.408s  +2.101    34 *
 8.  Barrichello    Williams Cosworth      1m16.023s  +2.716    51
 9.  Perez          Sauber Ferrari         1m16.198s  +2.891    42
10.  Maldonado      Williams Cosworth      1m16.266s  +2.959    29
11.  Buemi          Toro Rosso Ferrari     1m16.359s  +3.052    46
12.  Alguersuari    Toro Rosso Ferrari     1m16.474s  +3.167    64
13.  Webber         Red Bull Renault       1m17.365s  +4.058    17
14.  Karthikeyan    HRT Cosworth           1m17.769s  +1.165    80 *
15.  Kovalainen     Lotus Renault          1m20.649s  +7.342    15

* 2010 car

All Timing Unofficial