Alonso on top as Barcelona test ends

The World Champion was unable to get into the 1:13s like yesterday but still finished over three tenths clear of his closest rival, Honda's Rubens Barrichello.

Renault continued working on their preparations for the Bahrain Grand Prix, running the revised aero package to be used in Sakhir.

Both Alonso and teammate Fisichella completed more than a Grand Prix distance as the French squad put their V8 engine to the test for the third consecutive day. Fisichella finished as third fastest behind Barrichello, who was joined today by test driver Anthony Davidson.

The Briton replaced compatriot Jenson Button at the wheel of the RA106, enjoying a fruitful day as he covered two Grand Prix distances on his way to the fifth fastest time.

Christian Klien showed promising pace in the Red Bull RB2, the Austrian finishing in fourth place, slightly over half a second behind Alonso.

Klien's teammate David Coulthard, on the other hand, had another day to forget and completed only five laps before being forced to call it a day. The Scot had woken up with a trapped nerve in his back and was unable to drive. 

Robert Doornbos replaced Coulthard to carry out pitstop practice, completing no timed laps.

Nico Rosberg in the Williams was once again the quickest of the Bridgestone runners with the sixth fastest time, the German covering just 41 laps. His teammate Alex Wurz, taking over from Australian Mark Webber, finished down in 10th in the second FW28.

Wurz continued testing the seamless gearbox Williams are developing, and he was encouraged by the progress made.

"I was not expecting to go quick with those tyres, but I did good work and we did long runs, which was good," Wurz told autosport.com.

"On the gearbox the improvements we had in the last two weeks have been very big. It is still not our strongest point but we are pretty good there, it was a good test."

Ralf Schumacher continued with his streak of spins and, after going off track twice yesterday, he caused another red flag today when he spun around noon, ending up in the gravel.

His Toyota teammate Jarno Trulli had a more productive session and completed 100 laps, although the TF106 continued to be far off the top of the times.

"It has been a tough week," Trulli told autosport.com. "We tried the tyres for Bahrain and Malaysia but the temperature has not been that friendly. We have done long runs and short runs but at the moment Michelin runners seem a bit stronger.

"The temperature did not help at all. When the temperature went up we were a bit better. As for the aero, it was a step forward. We have done a lot of work this winter and we have made a major step forward and now after next week we will see where are are."

Formula One's biggest test next week will take place at Valencia, where Renault, McLaren, Honda, Williams, Toyota and Red Bull are scheduled to complete their final preparations for the start of the season.

Today's times:

Pos  Driver        Team                      Time      Laps
 1.  Alonso        Renault              (M)  1:14.081   96
 2.  Barrichello   Honda                (M)  1:14.422  108
 3.  Fisichella    Renault              (M)  1:14.520   97
 4.  Klien         Red Bull-Ferrari     (M)  1:14.613   53
 5.  Davidson      Honda                (M)  1:15.107  129
 6.  Rosberg       Williams-Cosworth    (B)  1:15.829   41
 7.  Trulli        Toyota               (B)  1:16.024  100
 8.  R.Schumacher  Toyota               (B)  1:16.288   41
 9.  Coulthard     Red Bull-Ferrari     (M)  1:16.687    5
10.  Wurz          Williams-Cosworth    (B)  1:18.130   68
11.  Doornbos      Red Bull-Ferrari     (M)  no time     1

All Timing Unofficial