Double world champion Fernando Alonso produced a sparkling performance under the floodlights in his Enstone-built Renault to top the timesheets in the second session of free practice on Friday ahead of the inaugural Singapore Grand Prix.

The Spaniard left it late to produce a scintillating lap and clock a time of one minute 45.654 seconds to edge championship leader Lewis Hamilton by 0.098secs.

McLaren's Hamilton, who came out on top in first practice earlier in the evening, had led for the majority of practice until Alonso took charge.

Ferrari's Felipe Massa finished third with a time of 1:45.793 while Heikki Kovalainen of McLaren and Grove-based AT&T Williams team driver Nico Rosberg took fourth and fifth respectively.

BMW Sauber's Robert Kubica finished sixth while Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen, who had at one stage topped the timesheets, took seventh.

Jenson Button improved on his showing in first practice in his Brackley-built Honda by taking eighth place while Kazuki Nakajima of Williams and Toyota's Timo Glock rounded off the top ten.

David Coulthard once again finished 15th in his Red Bull while BMW Sauber's Nick Heidfeld, who had claimed eighth in first practice, was a lowly 16th.

All eyes had been eagerly anticipating exactly how the circuit would look under floodlights and, as expected, it didn't disappoint with all sections of the track brightly lit.

The rain and thunderstorms that had lashed Singapore in the morning failed to materialise in the evening meaning only a small section of standing water remained at the first corner ahead of first practice.