[en] An improved QCD-inspired quark potential is introduced and employed to calculate baryon spectra. This potential has some novel features: (i) the one-gluon exchange potential in it is derived from the exact three-dimensional relativistic equation and contains a retardation term which is logarithmic; (ii) the confining part of the potential is generated from a linear potential Bethe-Salpeter (BS) kernel and a general Lorentz structure of the confinement and includes therefore various spin-dependent terms added to the linear potential; (iii) the off-shell correction part of the potential which is related to the negative energy component of the BS amplitude automatically gives rise to a harmonic oscillator term. (Author)