MONZA, Italy, Sept 7, 2007 (AFP) - Defending double drivers world champion Spaniard Fernando Alonso clocked the fastest time in Friday afternoon´s second free practice for Sunday´s Italian Grand Prix.

Alonso, in his McLaren Mercedes-Benz, bounced back to form by clocking a best lap of one minute and 22.386 seconds around the Autodromo Nazionale in Monza´s old royal parks, one-eighth of a second faster than his McLaren team-mate Lewis Hamilton.

Hamilton, the 22-year-old British rookie who leads this year´s title race by five points with five races remaining, clocked 1:23.209 to endorse his place as the championship favourite as the European part of the season draws to a close.

Italian Giancarlo Fisichella in a Renault gave home fans some satisfaction by clocking the third best time ahead of Poland´s Robert Kubica in a BMW Sauber and German Nico Rosberg in a Williams.

For the Ferrari fans, it was a disappointing afternoon as they failed to fight for the top times in the warm sunshine and Brazilian Felipe Massa was sixth and Finland´s Kimi Raikkonen eighth. They sandwiched German Nick Heidfeld who was seventh in the second BMW.

The session was run in perfect dry conditions under a blue sky and was interrupted midway through when Briton Anthony Davidson stopped out on the track in his Super Aguri.

This produced a red flag and a brief break either side of which Massa provided some thrills by spinning in his efforts to improve his Ferrari´s times.