Mark Webber narrowly missed out on scoring points in the third round of the FIA Formula 3000 Championship in Barcelona, Spain - but he remains in the thick of the title contest.

The Australian, who started eleventh and finished seventh, admitted that a practice crash had seriously compromised his chances of a top-three finish at a circuit where he had expected to do well. He spun off the track and into the barriers during the first of two qualifying sessions on Friday afternoon.
He said: "Things were a little bit puzzling during qualifying, because on my first set of tyres the car felt really unbalanced and it hasn't been at all like that previously this season. In that situation you push really hard to make amends, frustration tends to build up and in the end I spun off and crashed into the pit wall.

"It wasn't a big hit - and certainly didn't aggravate my old rib injury, which gave me no trouble at all this weekend. I must admit that I never thought the team would get the car repaired before the second session, because quite a few parts at the back needed replacing. The guys did a great job to get me out with about 15 minutes to go. As soon as I went back out the car felt as though it was handling more predictably, so it might just be that there was something wrong with my first set of tyres. It's hard to know, but as soon as I returned to the track I was able to record laps about half a second faster than before. Unfortunately, because we were running out of time there was no opportunity for me to change to my third and final set of new tyres, which might have enabled me to take another step forward. I saved those for the race, but unfortunately that doesn't really offer you much of an advantage."

Webber knew that scoring points from 11th on the grid would be tough - and so it proved. He made a great start to pick up four places within the first few corners, but overtaking is notoriously difficult at Barcelona once the race has settled down.

"If I had been able to score any points at all it would have been a good day," he said. "I was pleased with my start and thought, 'We might be in luck here', but then I remembered what Barcelona was like. With a group of closely matched cars running close together it's very hard to find some kind of advantage if the driver ahead doesn't make a mistake. I pushed Antonio Pizzonia pretty hard for sixth place in the early stages, but there was no way through.

"To pass at this place, you need to get really close to the car ahead to set up a move at the end of the main straight. But if you are too close at the corner that leads onto that straight you lose frontal grip and sail off the track. It's just the same for the F1 drivers here. You could stick Michael Schumacher in one of these cars and I reckon he'd struggle to pull off any overtaking manoeuvres. The fact is that I goofed in qualifying - and that was rammed back down my throat in the race."

Webber lies third in the championship after three of the 12 rounds, five points behind series leader Justin Wilson and four adrift of Barcelona winner Tomas Enge. "It is far too early in the season to be thinking about the destiny of the championship," he said, "but the fact Justin didn't win, which he looked quite likely to do from pole position, was a bonus. It's definitely going to be a very tight battle because pretty much the same faces seem to be at the sharp end most of the time.

"It's no use complaining when things go wrong, because this is a tough sport and success is not supposed to be handed to you on a plate. You have to fight hard for it and that's the way it should be. All I can do is put this weekend behind me, and focus on the next race, in Austria, two weeks from now. Our car felt good in the race today, but we weren't able to show our full potential. I am confident we will be right on the pace in qualifying next time - and that is vital."

Webber won't be taking things easy in-between races. He has been booked by the Benetton Renault Sport F1 team to conduct three days of testing, from Tuesday until Thursday, at Valencia, about 200 miles south of Barcelona.
"I'm looking forward to that," Webber said. "Playing a major role in the development of an F1 car and chasing the F3000 title is keeping me busy, but I am enjoying every moment. I absolutely love the job."

Championship points:
1 Justin Wilson (GB) 15 points
2 Tomas Enge (CZ) 14
3 Mark Webber (AUS) 10
4 Darren Manning (GB) 6
= Bas Leinders (B) 6
= Jaime Melo (BR) 6
7 David Saelens (B) 5
8 Sébastien Bourdais (F) 4
= Antonio Pizzonia (BR) 4
10 Mario Haberfeld (BR) 3
11 Patrick Friesacher (A) 2
= Joel Camathias (CH) 2
13 Fabrizio Gollin (I) 1

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