Motor Sport: Fernando Alonso had vowed to put on a show in Magny-Cours, and he duly delivered in the second practice session for Sunday's French Grand Prix.
On home soil for a Renault team that has woefully under-performed this season, Alonso topped the timesheets with what proved to be the second quickest time of the day.
Only Ferrari's Felipe Massa was faster, that in the morning 90-minute period when the Brazilian posted a time quicker than the record race lap set by Michael Schumacher in 2004.
Alonso had ended the morning in ignominious fashion, trundling off the Circuit de Nevers with a blown engine that fortunately on a Friday does not result in a penalty.
In the intervening 150 minutes, Alonso's mechanics ensured the two-time world champion returned to the track with a car to give the team's fans something to cheer.
Throwing his Renault around the 4.411km track, Alonso ultimately set a lap of one minute 15.778secs, just over 0.4secs adrift of Massa's morning best.
Massa was second quickest in the afternoon with a lap of 1:15.854, avoiding a scare late on at the long, sweeping right-hand curve of Estoril when he ran wide into the gravel, just missing a wall on exit.
Ferrari team-mate, and reigning world champion Kimi Raikkonen was third quickest with a time of 1:15.999, pushing Lewis Hamilton into fourth.
The afternoon session generally sees teams run with heavier fuel loads, and so it appeared to prove for Hamilton as he was unable to improve on his morning lap of 1:16.002.
Sebastian Vettel again ran strongly in his Toro Rosso for fifth, with the BMW Sauber of current championship leader Robert Kubica in sixth, followed by McLaren's Heikki Kovalainen.
The second BMW Sauber of Nick Heidfeld was eighth, with Nelson Piquet ninth in his Renault and David Coulthard 10th for Red Bull.
Jenson Button appears to be struggling on this track in his Honda as he was 17th in the afternoon to follow up his 18th in the morning.