Renault tester Heikki Kovalainen was the fastest man for the second straight day at the French circuit of Paul Ricard, where Renault, BMW, McLaren and Toyota are testing this week in preparation for the Australian GP on April 2.
Last year's GP2 Series runner-up logged over two full grand prix distances - 213 laps in total - to end up with a best time of 1:04.400, or half a second quicker than BMW's Nick Heidfeld in the second spot on the timesheets. The McLaren duo of testers Pedro de la Rosa and Gary Paffett came next, with the Toyotas of Jarno Trulli and Ricardo Zonta completing the day's runners, again significantly off the pace - Trulli trailed Kovalainen by 1.3s in the short 3E SC layout of the Le Castellet facility.
Honda and Ferrari carried on solo work at the Vallelunga and Fiorano circuits in Italy. The Japanese manufacturer's team was hampered by rain, with Rubens Barrichello and test driver Anthony Davidson completing 46 and 82 laps respectively. At Fiorano, Tester Luca Badoer covered 120 laps aboard the 248 F1 at the Scuderia's private track, with a fastest mark of 58.369.