Alonso goes fastest in Jerez test

After a low-key start, the Renault R29 has shown increasing pace in recent tests, and Alonso underlined that improvement today by lapping in 1:19.945, 0.3 seconds quicker than his nearest rival, Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen.

"I'm very happy with the result from this test as we had two trouble-free days, a very consistent car and the work we have done has been very useful," said Alonso.

The weather again interrupted the test, with strong winds hampering teams' efforts to put mileage on their 2009 cars.

"The main problem throughout the day was the wind," said Jarno Trulli, who was fourth fastest for Toyota. "It was gusting and making it hard to make the comparisons we were looking for."

Nick Heidfeld completed the top three for BMW, followed by Trulli and Red Bull's Mark Webber.

World champion Lewis Hamilton took over the McLaren from teammate Heikki Kovalainen but was only seventh quickest, between Kazuki Nakajima (Williams) and Adrian Sutil (Force India). Hamilton also lost time during the morning when he had to stop while the team worked on his car's rear suspension.

Sutil was content with the new Force India, but had difficulty with the Bridgestone slicks.

"We tried the soft, supersoft and medium compounds," he said. "On the long runs they behaved quite differently and the biggest problem was with the graining. It happens very quickly, then gets worse and the grip never comes back.

"We are talking big differences in lap times - I have never had such a big graining issue, but I can see nearly everyone is struggling with a similar problem."

Force India and Renault are now heading back to their factories prior to next week's Barcelona test, but the other six teams are staying on at Jerez for a final day of running tomorrow.

Today's times:

Pos  Driver        Team                       Time      Laps
 1.  Alonso        Renault               (B)  1:19.945  129
 2.  Raikkonen     Ferrari               (B)  1:20.250  104
 3.  Heidfeld      BMW Sauber            (B)  1:20.520  98
 4.  Trulli        Toyota                (B)  1:20.540  131
 5.  Webber        Red Bull-Renault      (B)  1:20.894  107
 6.  Nakajima      Williams-Toyota       (B)  1:20.948  83
 7.  Hamilton      McLaren-Mercedes      (B)  1:21.302  70
 8.  Sutil         Force India-Mercedes  (B)  1:21.411  79

All Timing Unofficial