Mark Webber's FIA Formula 3000 Championship hopes suffered a blow in the ninth race of the year at Hockenheim, Germany - but the rising Australian star refuses to write off his title chances.

The Super Nova Lola driver, who was eliminated in a first-lap pile-up during Saturday's race, said: "I might be 10 points behind Justin Wilson, the series leader, but that's just the situation I was in after the first race of the year. I won the next event and brought the gap back down to a single point, so I don't see any reason why I can't do something similar again. Justin is in the driving seat at the moment, but there are three races to go and 30 points to play for. I'll be out to score as many of those as I can."

Webber's German weekend began brightly when he set the fastest lap of the opening qualifying session. "The car felt really good at that stage," he said, "and I thought we were shaping up for a profitable weekend. I went well at this circuit last year and was in a very positive frame of mind. We had a nice balance on the car and I saved two new sets of fresh tyres for the second session, when I was sure we would be able to improve.

"Early in that session, unfortunately, I clipped a kerb coming into the stadium section of the track. It didn't feel like a major drama at all, but we found out later that the impact damaged a rear damper and also affected a gearbox bearing. I was a bit puzzled that we were unable to improve our lap times, but later in the evening we found the problem, which made me feel a little bit happier about my race prospects."

Webber slipped to seventh on the grid - but his chance of winning remained intact because it is easier to pass at Hockenheim than at many other tracks on the F3000 calendar. "I faced an uphill struggle," he said, "but there was no reason we couldn't get at least a podium finish."

His hopes were to be dashed before the race was one minute old, however. "I got a clean start," Mark said, "but there was a bottleneck building up as we approached the first chicane and, in the general confusion, I ended up running into the back of Darren Manning's car. That wiped off my front wing and effectively it was game over. I crawled back to the pits but there was too much damage to the car for it to be repaired on the spot. It was a typical racing incident and a hangover from qualifying, because if you start from the fourth row you are always going to be exposed to a greater level of risk in the first-lap sort-out."

Webber is returning home to Australia before the next race in Budapest, Hungary, on August 18. "I've got some sponsorship commitments to fulfil," he said, "and I'm going to be working hard to keep in shape for the next race. This weekend started out brightly but has turned out to be very disappointing. My focus remains unchanged, however. I need to win in Budapest - but I know I can do it."

FIA F3000 Championship points:

1 Justin Wilson (GB) 49
2 Mark Webber (AUS) 39
3 Tomas Enge (CZ) 36
4 Antonio Pizzonia (BR) 22
5 Sébastien Bourdais (F) 21
6 Bas Leinders (B) 13
7 Ricardo Sperafico (BR) 10
8 Darren Manning (GB) 9
9 Jaime Melo (BR) 8
= David Saelens (B) 8
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


For further media information, please contact:
Ann Neal
Tel/Fax: +44 1296 728405
Mobile: +44 7990 592404