Kubica stays on top in practice 2

Kubica clocked a best time of 1:16.902 on a hot afternoon in Burgundy where a big Bastille Day crowd braved searing sunshine in a very light breeze to see the action.

Alonso was second fastest in his Renault and Briton Anthony Davidson third in his Honda, just three tenths of a second behind Alonso. Austrian Alexander Wurz, in a Williams, was fourth fastest. Italian Giancarlo Fisichella was fifth for Renault ahead of seven-time champion Michael Schumacher in his Ferrari.

Two incidents interrupted the progress of events - the spin and stop of Brazilian Rubens Barrichello in his Honda after 20 minutes and a bizarre spin off by Finn Kimi Raikkonen in his McLaren Mercedes-Benz after the chequered flag had fallen to end the session.

The temperature had risen to 36 degrees Celsius - and a track temperature of 53 - by the afternoon when the second session began. A very slight breeze and a few passing puffs of cloud gave scant respite from the sunshine.

Briton Anthony Davidson in his Honda was the first to post a fast laptime, with Dutchman Robert Doornbos in his Red Bull close behind.

After 16 minutes, however, the big teams had joined the fray and Ferrari's Brazilian Felipe Massa soon went top of the times with a fast lap before he was unexpectedly overhauled by the Swiss Neel Jani in a Toro Rosso-Cosworth.

Then, after 20 minutes, came the incident that former Ferrari star Barrichello will wish had never happened as he spun off the track at the Nurburgring chicane and had to abandon his Honda car, having done only five laps.

By the half-hour mark, Michael Schumacher rose to the top in his Ferrari, who are looking to score their second win in a row as the German fights to reduce the gap to Alonso.

When Renault's duo swept to the top of the time-boards, Alonso and Giancarlo Fisichella both leading the way clear, it suggested Ferrari were not going to have it all their own way.

This was confirmed when Kubica in his BMW Sauber went top again, as he had in the morning, in the dying minutes as the heat poured down on the capacity sellout crowd.

Pos  Driver        Team                     Time              Laps
 1.  Kubica        BMW-Sauber          (M)  1:16.902            33
 2.  Alonso        Renault             (M)  1:17.498  + 0.596   14
 3.  Davidson      Honda               (M)  1:17.750  + 0.848   37
 4.  Wurz          Williams-Cosworth   (B)  1:17.859  + 0.957   29
 5.  Fisichella    Renault             (M)  1:17.916  + 1.014   13
 6.  M.Schumacher  Ferrari             (B)  1:17.938  + 1.036   16
 7.  Sutil         MF1-Toyota          (B)  1:18.049  + 1.147   31
 8.  Doornbos      Red Bull-Ferrari    (M)  1:18.175  + 1.273   28
 9.  R.Schumacher  Toyota              (B)  1:18.274  + 1.372   21
10.  Jani          Toro Rosso-Cosworth (M)  1:18.639  + 1.737   32
11.  Trulli        Toyota              (B)  1:18.721  + 1.819   23
12.  Button        Honda               (M)  1:19.005  + 2.103   18
13.  Massa         Ferrari             (B)  1:19.013  + 2.111   20
14.  Heidfeld      BMW-Sauber          (M)  1:19.108  + 2.206   15
15.  Raikkonen     McLaren-Mercedes    (M)  1:19.140  + 2.238    9
16.  Albers        MF1-Toyota          (B)  1:19.183  + 2.281   21
17.  Barrichello   Honda               (M)  1:19.259  + 2.357    5
18.  Webber        Williams-Cosworth   (B)  1:19.413  + 2.511   10
19.  Liuzzi        Toro Rosso-Cosworth (M)  1:19.589  + 2.687   14
20.  Rosberg       Williams-Cosworth   (B)  1:19.692  + 2.790   19
21.  Monteiro      MF1-Toyota          (B)  1:19.701  + 2.799   19
22.  de la Rosa    McLaren-Mercedes    (M)  1:19.809  + 2.907   14
23.  Sato          Super Aguri-Honda   (B)  1:19.996  + 3.094   22
24.  Speed         Toro Rosso-Cosworth (M)  1:20.003  + 3.101   12
25.  Coulthard     Red Bull-Ferrari    (M)  1:20.135  + 3.233   12
26.  Villeneuve    BMW-Sauber          (M)  1:20.154  + 3.252   11
27.  Klien         Red Bull-Ferrari    (M)  1:20.409  + 3.507   14
28.  Montagny      Super Aguri-Honda   (B)  1:21.132  + 4.230   14
29.  Yamamoto      Super Aguri-Honda   (B)  1:21.969  + 5.067   32

All Timing Unofficial