For Immediate Release                                                          June 30, 2001

Mark Webber scored his third win of the FIA Formula 3000 season at Magny-Cours, France, to move to within a point of current series leader Justin Wilson. The Super Nova Lola driver qualified second fastest and dominated the 36-lap race after taking the lead at the first corner. 

Webber thought he might be in for a tough race after qualifying behind Tomas Enge, Wilson's Coca-Cola Nordic Racing team-mate. "Overtaking at Magny-Cours is no easy matter," he said. "Although it is possible to pass at the hairpin, you need to be pretty close to the car in front - and getting into a position to challenge can be awkward. You have to go through a quick, right-handed kink before the hairpin - and if you get too near to another car at that point it can take away your frontal downforce and unsettle the chassis." 

The Australian admitted to not getting the best from his tyres when the track was at its best during qualifying, but he was pleased to have escaped a potentially nasty collision with Viktor Maslov (Arden). The Russian spun across the track in front of him at the 150mph Estoril corner. "That was quite a moment," Mark said. "Although I had time to react, the track was covered in muck from where Viktor had been spinning across the grass and my car felt quite loose. His car was stranded by the edge of the track and it felt as though I was staring straight into his eyes at one point. Fortunately I missed him, but my heart rate had gone up quite a bit when I came out of the corner. I would have been a sore boy if I had rammed him at that point."  

There was no cause for alarm in the race, however. Although Enge initially made a better start than Webber did, the Czech fluffed his change to second gear and the Super Nova Lola driver had the momentum to capitalise as they streamed into the first corner. "As we left the line I thought, 'Oh no'," Webber said, "but then I saw his car stutter and it was like Christmas had just come. I was able to slip by to his outside and then claim the racing line for the second turn. 

"As we came into the hairpin on the first lap I could sense Tomas breathing down my neck. I perhaps braked a little later than I should have done, but I came out of the corner OK and just focused on minding my own business from that point on. I could see from my pit board that I was pulling away - and that was a nice feeling." 

Webber was more than five seconds clear of Enge after 10 laps and had almost doubled his advantage in the later stages of the race. Although his position on the track looked comfortable, however, he felt the afternoon had been hard work. "Part of that is down to the heat," he said. "The ambient temperature was more than 30 degrees and this is not a track at which it's possible to get much rest. You have a brief breather on the run down to the hairpin - but that's all. It is quite a physical race in other ways, too, because the rear tyres were fading a little in the heat and as a result the car was sliding around quite a bit. I know that's the same for all the guys out there, but it certainly keeps you on your toes and makes it very hard work. I think I derived a little more satisfaction from my win in Monaco, but I was absolutely delighted with how things went today." 

Wilson ran third from the start, hot on Enge's heels, and Webber would have taken the championship lead for the first time this season if the order had remained unchanged. With half a lap to go, however, Wilson slipped past Enge at the hairpin and thus maintains a slender advantage over Webber. 

"There are five races to go and a lot can happen," Webber said. "The next race is at Silverstone, where I won last year, and I'm confident we will be in good shape. It is still far too early to be thinking about the championship. Whatever happens, I know the Coca-Cola guys are going to give me some tough opposition, but I'm looking forward to the fight." 

Super Nova team boss David Sears was quick to pay tribute to Webber. He said: "Mark's speed and consistency at the start were awesome and he was about half a second per lap faster than any other car. He looks to me like a guy that is in good shape for a title fight. We know the forthcoming races will be hard, but I expect Mark to be very strong. This is a crucial point in the season - and it's great that he is in race-winning form. He did an absolutely perfect job today." 

FIA F3000 Championship points: 

 1         Justin Wilson (GB)               37
 2         Mark Webber (AUS)             36
 3         Tomas Enge (CZ)                 32
 4         Bas Leinders (B)                  12
 5         Jaime Melo (BR                    8
 =        Darren Manning (GB)             8
 =        Sébastien Bourdais (F)          8
 =        David Saelens (B)                 8
 =        Antonio Pizzonia (BR)           8
10        Ricardo Sperafico (BR)         6
11        Patrick Friesacher (A)          5
12        Stéphane Sarrazin (F)          4
13        Mario Haberfeld (BR)            3
 =         Ricardo Mauricio (BR)          3
 =         Joel Camathias (CH)            2
16         Fabrizio Gollin (I)                1
 =          Andrea Piccini (I)               1


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