Kovalainen 2nd at Turkish GP practice

5/9/2008 6:08 AM

By PAUL LOGOTHETIS
AP Auto Racing Writer

ISTANBUL, Turkey (AP) -Heikki Kovalainen rebounded from a violent crash in Spain to set the second fastest lap time in Friday's first practice session for the Turkish Grand Prix, trailing only two-time defending champion Felipe Massa.

McLaren driver Kovalainen had a best lap time of 1 minute, 27.456 seconds to trail Ferrari's Massa at 1:27.323 ahead of Sunday's 58-lap race at the Istanbul Speed Park circuit.

It was the 26-year-old Finn's first drive following his crash at the preceding Spanish GP.

A wheel failure caused a tire on Kovalainen's car to explode and send him barreling into a wall at high speed. Though the crash left him in a hospital overnight with slight injuries, including a concussion, Kovalainen was cleared for Sunday's race after passing medical checks by governing body FIA on Thursday.

Massa, Lewis Hamilton of McLaren and Force India's Adrian Sutil all spun out at turn No. 3, with Massa recovering to set the pace despite also running off at a later corner.

Kimi Raikkonen finished last out of 20 - 3.409 seconds behind teammate Massa - over three laps. The defending world champion holds a nine-point advantage over Hamilton in the overall championship standings. Hamilton was third fastest with a time of 1:27.752, over half a second quicker than Fernando Alonso of Renault in fourth place.

Jenson Button rounded out the top-five.

Force India's Giancarlo Fisichella will start the race three places lower than his eventual qualifying position after leaving the pit lane when the lights were still red. The rookie Indian team is still looking for its first points.

Practice continues with a second session later Friday.