Surgery keeps Mark Webber on his mettle as pin is removed Mark Webber waits in his garage during the lead-up for the Australian Formula One Grand Prix in Melbourne. Mark Webber with the metal rod that was removed from his leg during surgery in December. MARK Webber is the bionic man no more. For the first time in five years, Australia's great home hope at the Melbourne Grand Prix will line up on the grid without a piece of metal holding his right leg together. Webber had the titanium rod inserted following a horrific mountain bike crash in Tasmania late in 2008 when he collided with a car while riding in his annual charity event. Against the odds, and with a broken shoulder, he made it to the starting line in Melbourne the next year and raced for four seasons with metal pins in his leg. Webber, 36, had the final piece of the metal removed from his leg in December, making Sunday's race the first in years he has been able to contest unaided. The Red Bull star told the Herald Sun he had "kept the metalwork" as a souvenir and hoped driving for the first time in a long time without it would give him the winning edge at home that had so far eluded him. "The work has been in there for 2009, 10, 11, 12, so it's the first time without it," he said. Webber has undergone fitness tests in Melbourne this week to ensure he is able to move well in and outside the car without the rod. He hoped the absence of metalwork in his leg could be the lucky charm he needs to win his maiden Australian Grand Prix. "But the metalwork has had some decent results," he said. I've kept it all but I am looking forward to racing without it. Webber had the metal in his leg for his breakthrough German Grand Prix triumph in 2009 and subsequent wins in Brazil, Spain, Monaco and Britain. The nine-time grand prix victor said he was confident he could perform at his best after the surgery, in Brisbane, and a solid pre-season. "It's nice to know that I'm back to original specs down there and not being held together," he said. It's nice to have it out and I'm all good to go.