Webber takes Imola pole

"The mistakes were silly little ones and the traffic was not always helpful, but the car was great," he said. "The team did a great job and we were quick all the time."

Webber will race on Saturday with a broken rib, an injury he sustained while testing for Benetton before the start of the season. It was caused by an ill-fitting seat, but the Australian is adamant that it won't affect him and says it did not bother him at the first F3000 race of the season in Brazil.

Behind Webber, Austrian rookie Patrick Friesacher did a superb job to steal second place from Briton Darren Manning. It was a great fillip for Friesacher who crashed with his Red Bull team-mate Antonio Garcia in Brazil. "Of course I am very happy. I want to finish on the podium tomorrow."

Manning was a little disappointed to be third and believed he could have taken pole had he timed his fast runs right. Manning used his new tyres midway through the second session and suffered from heavy traffic, which stopped him from getting a clear run.

Interlagos winner Justin Wilson qualified down in sixth, behind Nordic team-mate Tomas Enge and Astromega's Giorgio Pantano. The other Briton in the series, Justin Keen, ended up down in 24th.

The race takes place on Saturday afternoon after Formula 1 qualifying.


1 Mark Webber, Super Nova, 1m38.518s
2 Patrick Friesacher, Red Bull, 1m38.835s
3 Darren Manning, Arden, 1m38.837s
4 Tomas Enge, Nordic, 1m38.951s
5 Giorgio Pantano, Astromega, 1m38.962s
6 Justin Wilson, Nordic, 1m39.079s
7 Antonio Pizzonia, Petrobras, 1m39.219s
8 Rodrigo Sperafico, Coloni, 1m39.219s
9 Sebastien Bourdais, DAMS, 1m39.323s
10 Jaime Melo, Durango, 1m39.339s

Click here for the full result.