WEBBER RACED WITH INJURY
Last Updated: Tuesday, 29, March, 2005, 19:06
Mark Webber drove with a fractured rib in the first two races of
the season, it was revealed on Tuesday.
The Australian missed last weeks test in Barcelona in order to
rest and recuperate, but is now fully fit ahead of the Bahrain
GP.
He wanted a bit more time and asked Williams if he could rest,
Webbers partner and manager Ann Neal told Reuters.
But hes fine now, hes been doing a lot of fitness over the
weekend.
Neal said Webber sustained the injury during pre-season testing in
Spain.
It was basically a consequence of not warming up properly, she
explained.
During one of the many testing sessions at Valencia over the winter
Webber apparently completed an installation lap without having gone
through his normal warm-up routine.
Instead of getting out of the car after that one lap as he would
usually have done, he went out for a proper run shortly
afterwards.
We think the cartilage was damaged then, said Neal. He then went
to test in Barcelona and the actual rib fractured there. But he
didnt have any [medical] tests or anything because he was so
busy.
The injury came to light in the run-up to the Australian GP when,
after experiencing discomfort, Webber went to hospital while
visiting his parents near Canberra.
He did not make the news public, said Neal, because he didnt want
to make a fuss.
He was given pain-killing injections and went on to finish fifth in
Melbourne. The major concern was that he would have to miss the
much more physically taxing Malaysian GP but fortunately that
proved unfounded.
