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Webber tops third day at Jerez

Mark Webber kept Red Bull machinery at the top of the timesheets in Jerez when he led the way on the third day of this week's test at the Spanish track

With Scuderia Toro Rosso's Sebastian Vettel having been fastest on the first two days of running, it was Webber's turn to emerge in front when he edged out Nelson Piquet's Renault by just more than two tenths of a second. Both drivers used slick tyres to set their best times.

"We've had a pretty good two days here," said Webber. "The car ran pretty reliably and we've clocked some good mileage. Today we were mostly getting ready for Budapest, as well as looking at developments for a little later in the season.

"Yesterday we were focusing more on '09, and it was quite a challenging day. Today was better in terms of what we learned, mechanically and aerodynamically."

Fresh from his podium finish in the German Grand Prix, Piquet was reminded how tough things can be in F1 went he went off at Turn Nine - clouting the wall slightly with the left-had side of his car to bring out a red flag.

Kimi Raikkonen was third fastest for Ferrari, on grooved rubber. He completed the day without running a shark fin engine cover, but Ferrari are expected to run with the new part tomorrow when Felipe Massa takes over.

Vitantonio Liuzzi completed another successful day of running with Force India's seamless shift gearbox to set the fourth quickest time on slicks, although his strong lap time performance was the result of him running 2008 levels of downforce.

The Italian finished the day just ahead of McLaren test driver Pedro de la Rosa, who brought out the first red flag of the day when he ran off track at the chicane early in the day. The Spaniard also spent time evaluating new development parts on the MP4-23, including BMW Sauber-style nose horn wings.

There were two other red flags over the course of the day. Timo Glock, who was returning to the cockpit for the first time since his accident in the German Grand Prix, stopped on track at Turn Four after midday.

Rubens Barrichello, who ran Honda's shark fin engine cover in the afternoon, stopped right at the end of the day with a suspected engine problem.

Pos Driver                   Team                  Time        Laps
 1. Mark Webber              Red Bull-Renault      1:19.176      85
 2. Nelson Piquet            Renault               1:19.334      95
 3. Kimi Raikkonen           Ferrari               1:19.434      84
 4. Vitantonio Liuzzi        Force India-Ferrari   1:19.544      86
 5. Pedro de la Rosa         McLaren-Mercedes      1:19.850      39
 6. Sebastien Bourdais       Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1:20.029      77
 7. Kazuki Nakajima          Williams-Toyota       1:20.097      88
 8. Tim Glock                Toyota                1:20.421      78
 9. Rubens Barrichello       Honda                 1:20.614      68
10. Nick Heidfeld            BMW Sauber            1:20.896      97
All timing unofficial

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