We compare the perturbatively calculated QCD potential to that obtained from lattice calculations in the theory without light quark flavours. We examine E_tot(r) = 2 m_pole + V_QCD(r) by re-expressing it in the MSbar mass m = m^MSbar(m^MSbar) and by choosing specific prescriptions for fixing the scale mu (dependent on r and m). By adjusting m so as to maximise the range of convergence, we show that perturbative and lattice calculations agree up to 3*r_0 ~ 7.5 GeV^-1 (r_0 is the Sommer scale) within the uncertainty of order Lambda^3 r^2.