German win just reward for much-maligned Webber

By Robert Grant

When Mark Webber was spiralling through the air at 300km/h in a Mercedes at Le Mans in 1999 a career of any sort looked doubtful.

When he announced in triumph that he had joined the Formula 1 giant Williams in 2005, only to watch the team turn to dust, his dreams evaporated again.

And when he broke a leg in a bicycle crash in Tasmania in 2008 just weeks before crucial pre-season testing for the 2009 F1 season, it seemed unlikely he would take his place in the Red Bull outfit in time for the first race.

Mark Webber has had more doubters than believers in his native country, Australia He's not a debonair European or South American playboy . He's contributed to some poor finishes but in large part he has been the victim of unworthy machinery and simple bad luck.

Webber's first F1 win at Nurburgring in Germany last Sunday was a rare feat for any F1 driver with his background.

He's not a debonair European or South American playboy driver backed by huge sponsorship dollars and buying a seat in an F1 car. Webber came up the hard way, in the tradition of Australians of the past who risked everything to pursue an improbable dream abroad with borrowed cash and nothing but persistence, grit and raw talent to bulldoze a path through a field of rich kids.

From local motorcycle racing he moved to karting in 1991 at the age of 14 and on to the Australian Formula Ford series where he won several times but, most importantly, met Ann Neal, the Englishwoman who was to become his unstoppable public relations campaigner and ensured he had the right connections when he moved to Britain In 1996 he won four times in the British Formula Ford series .

In 1996 he won four times in the British Formula Ford series but money was quickly running out and Webber's future looked bleak before Australian rugby union great David Campese loaned him the money to finish the 1997 season.

He was approached by Mercedes-AMG to drive in the FIA GT championship and with this would come one of Webber's defining motorsport moments. During practice for the 1999 Le Mans 24 Hours Webber's aerodynamically-flawed car flipped twice in separate runs down the Mulsanne Straight at 300km/h.

As his car somersaulted towards the forest Webber said later his only thought had been of trying to wrench open the door to escape if it exploded in flames.



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