MOTORSPORT: Webber starts final tilt at title

Spa victory would be ideal birthday present
Mark Webber turns 34 today and begins the final charge towards what could be a Formula One world championship.

The Belgian Grand Prix at the magnificent Spa-Francorchamps circuit is the first of the seven remaining races in the F1 world championship after a four-week break.

Webber took the championship lead by winning the Hungarian GP at the start of the month but there are five drivers in a cluster bracketed by just 20 points.

Spa is a circuit at which Ferrari and McLaren are traditionally dominant -- they have won every race there since 1998, and 11 of the last 12.

However, Red Bull's RB6 car is undoubtedly the fastest in F1 now, even if the team's finishing results have not been as dominant as they could have been.

But, in terms of sheer speed, David Coulthard -- winner of many GPs with McLaren and retained by Red Bull as a consultant since retiring from that team at the end of 2008 -- said the Renault-powered RB6 has been "the quickest package all year and the gap, if anything, is growing".

Spa and Italy's Monza, the next venue in the championship, are likely to be the toughest circuits for Red Bull in the remaining GPs because of their long straights which are expected to favour the more powerful Mercedes-engined McLaren cars and the Ferraris again.

McLaren's Lewis Hamilton, just four points behind Webber in the championship, could start favourite on Sunday, but Ferrari will try an updated exhaust-blown diffuser in practice tonight, Australian time, which -- if successful -- could bring Fernando Alonso right into victory calculations.

Webber's 23-year-old German teammate Sebastian Vettel has had pole position at the past four GPs -- and eight poles from 12 rounds so far -- and is the championship favourite with many experts.

However, former Federation Internationale de l'Automobile president Max Mosley is one who now tips Webber for the title.

"He is very experienced and mentally strong -- he has the makings of a champion," Mosley told Germany's Welt newspaper. "He has improved once again this year as a driver, and is in the best car.

"I also think the public likes his story -- a man who fought for years and could now be rewarded for this admirable energy."

While sentiment and popularity won't play a part in deciding the championship, Mosley may be right in saying that Webber is "better equipped for the current situation" than Vettel, who he called "an extremely dynamic driver with a great future".

Vettel is third in the championship, 10 points behind Webber, with McLaren's Jenson Button -- last year's world champion for BrawnGP, now Mercedes -- in fourth and Alonso fifth.

Webber -- with four wins this year (twice the number of each of his title rivals), six podiums and four pole positions -- is refreshed for the resumption of racing after relaxing in southern France but is not making any bold championship predictions.

"It's so far off," he told grandprix.com, even though the title will be decided in a maximum 12 weeks. I could finish sixth in this championship yet," he said. "It has been nice to be away from the attention for a while. There's been some great memories so far this year and hopefully we'll have a few more."

Webber said he wasn't counting on luck being part of the equation.

"I don't really believe in luck," he said. "The harder you work the luckier you get -- but I still think I'm due a few credits!"

Webber is confident the Red Bull cars will be strong at Spa.

"I don't think there is a driver on the grid that doesn't look forward to Spa -- it's an incredible circuit to drive on," he said. "I expect we can do well -- whether it's as well as I did in Budapest is a question, but I know our team is ready.

"I want to win the title. I know that it changes people's lives -- and I want to know what it feels like."

Now 38 and racing for Williams, he made his debut with the Jordan team -- which has now morphed into Force India -- in South Africa in 1993 and has had 11 wins.

That tally would have been greater had Barrichello not had to play bridesmaid to Michael Schumacher during their years together at Ferrari.

Schumacher, now driving for Mercedes, belatedly texted Barrichello this week to apologise for almost squeezing him into the wall at high speed in Hungary.

Schumacher will be relegated 10 places on the Belgian grid as punishment for that incident.

Incidentally, it was 19 years ago at Spa that Schumacher made his F1 debut -- also with Jordan.

100th American Le Mans Series race for David Brabham
David Brabham chalks up a milestone this weekend -- his 100th start in the American Le Mans Series at the penultimate round of this year's championship.

It's at Mosport in Toronto, Canada, where his father, Sir Jack, won the first Canadian GP in 1967.

Brabham Junior and Frenchman Simon Pagenaud, driving a Honda Performance Development HPD ARX-01c, lead the standings by 20 points on the strength of three wins in seven races.

Their Highcroft Racing team is the defending ALMS champion after taking last year's title with Brabham and Scott Sharp.

Brabham won outright at Mosport last year and in the LMP1 class in 2008. He has had 96 top 10 finishes in ALMS -- 58 of which were podiums. He can boast 22 race wins and 13 class pole positions.

He is also the only driver in ALMS history to take pole positions and race wins in the GT1, GT2, LMP1, LMP2 and LMP classes.

"It's pretty cool to get to 100 races," Brabham said. "I've been a part of the series since the beginning and I've done the majority of races in its history.

"I've had the privilege of working with a lot of great teams and a lot of great teammates across the years. I've enjoyed some fantastic on-track battles and off-track companionships. That's what makes this series unique.

"Racing my 100th event with Patron Highcroft Racing, with who I took my first title last year, makes this occasion even more significant. It's a special time in my career.

"Celebrating this milestone at Mosport, where dad took the first Canadian GP victory over 40 years ago, means a lot as well.

"Mosport is the fastest track in terms of average speed, so developing a race set-up with our new aero package will be key."

This season's ALMS championship has been the most competitive in its history.

In the seven races so far five different teams and manufacturers have won, including four different combinations in the past four races.

Highcroft is the only team to have won multiple races -- with its hat-trick of wins at Long Beach and Laguna Seca in California and Salt Lake City in Utah.

Oval form points to Briscoe rather than Power
The IndyCar series is at Chicagoland Speedway this weekend, with Will Power trying to strengthen his grip on the title -- but it may be fellow Aussie and Penske Racing teammate Ryan Briscoe's turn to shine.

"Chicago the last couple of years have been great for me," Briscoe said this week.

He has had pole position both times and last year he led the most laps and won the race. In 2008 he led 41 laps and finished third. But in 2005, when driving for Chip Ganassi Racing, he suffered multiple fractures in a spectacular accident.

Briscoe enters this weekend's race fourth in the championship, 130 points behind Power but just 35 points behind Ganassi's third-placed Scott Dixon.

Ganassi's other driver, Dario Franchitti, is second -- 59 points behind Power.

In his only Chicagoland start Power started 10th and finished fifth while driving for KV Racing Technology in 2008.

That result was his top oval race finish that season and remains his equal best career oval result, with each of the four remaining races this season on ovals.

"I am looking forward to Chicago -- I actually had my first top-five oval finish at this track back in '08, so I am feeling really good going into this event," he said. "It's nice to be racing on a track that I have some experience on as we transition to the ovals and into the final stretch of the championship.

"My car has been strong all year long (he has won five races and had eight pole positions).

"I am going to be aggressive this weekend -- we have to be."

The other prominent Aussie racing in North America, Marcos Ambrose, is in Montreal this weekend for a round of NASCAR's second-tier Nationwide Series.

The circuit is the road course on which the Canadian F1 GP is held and where Ambrose has been stiff not to have won on each of his three previous visits.

The 1997 F1 world champion, Canadian Jacques Villeneuve, is in the Nationwide race on the track named after his late father, Gilles.

Villeneuve Junior is awaiting word from the FIA on an application to enter a new team in F1 next year.

A decision is expected within two weeks.

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