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Dino Morelli

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British racing driver

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Dino Morelli
NationalityBritish
Born (1973-06-06) June 6, 1973 (age 51)
Ballymoney, Northern Ireland
Formula 3000
Years active1995-2001
TeamsTeam Astromega
World Racing Team
Coloni Motorsport
Auto Sport Racing
DKS Racing
Omegaland
Starts17
Wins0
Poles0
Fastest laps0
Best finish12th in 1997

Dino Morelli (born June 6, 1973, Ballymoney, County Antrim, Northern Ireland), is a former racing driver who competed sporadically in Formula 3000 between 1995 and 2001.

Career

Morelli began racing in karts in the late 1980s before joining Irish Formula Ford in 1990, and later British Formula Ford in 1991. By 1994, he was racing in British Formula 3 where he finished 7th in the championship. He joined Omegaland to compete in the first two rounds of the 1995 International Formula 3000 season. He retired from both races. In 1996, he joined Coloni to race in Italian Formula 3, before returning to Formula 3000 in 1997. Driving for DKS Racing, Morelli's season started well finishing 5th in the opening race at Silverstone. He would secure his first, and only, Formula 3000 podium at Helsinki. At the next round in Germany, Morelli was involved in a major accident with Gareth Rees and Cyril Sauvage which saw his car launched over the barriers. Morelli was airlifted to hospital, suffering lacerations on the face and complex fractures to his feet. He did not race again in 1997, but did finish in 12th position in the championship.

In 1998, he returned to the Formula 3000 and completed four races with a best finish of 8th at Monaco. In 1999 he represented Coloni Motorsport in both International F3000 and Italian Formula 3000. In Italy, Morelli completed two races finishing 4th at Misano and winning the final round of the season at Imola. Scoring 13 points he finished 6th overall in Italian F3000 that season. In International F3000, his best result was 10th at Spa.

As he headed into 2000, Morelli completed two International F3000 races for WRT and Durango. Alongside this he also raced in the Sports Racing World Cup completing three rounds. At Donington Park, he won with team mate Richard Lyons. In 2001, he completed five races for Team Astromega with a best finish of 7th place. He retired from both the Monaco and British rounds of the championship after crashes.

Racing record

Career summary

Season Series Team Races Wins Poles F.Laps Podiums Points Position
1990 Formula Ford Festival ? 1 0 0 0 0 0 22nd
1991 British Formula Ford Championship Fulmar ? 2 ? ? ? 157 4th
1992 Formula Opel Lotus Euroseries ? ? 0 0 0 0 0 NC
1993 British Formula Three Championship P1 Engineering 2 0 0 0 0 0 NC
Formula Opel Lotus Euroseries David Sears Motorsport ? 1 0 0 0 0 NC
1994 British Formula Three Championship P1 Engineering 15 0 0 0 1 63 9th
Macau Grand Prix 1 0 0 0 0 0 11th
1995 International Formula 3000 Omegaland 2 0 0 0 0 0 NC
1996 Italian Formula Three Championship Coloni Motorsport 5 0 0 0 0 9 12th
1997 International Formula 3000 DKS Racing 4 0 0 0 1 6 12th
British Formula 3000 1 1 1 1 1 0 NC
1998 International Formula 3000 Auto Sport Racing 4 0 0 0 0 0 NC
1999 International Formula 3000 Coloni Motorsport 1 0 0 0 0 0 NC
Italian Formula 3000 2 1 1 0 1 13 5th
2000 International Formula 3000 World Racing Team 1 0 0 0 0 0 NC
Italian Formula 3000 Durango 1 0 0 0 0 0 NC
Sports Racing World Cup - SR2 Tampolli Engineering 2 0 1 0 1 17 27th
2001 International Formula 3000 Team Astromega 5 0 0 0 0 0 NC

Complete International Formula 3000 results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap.)

Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Pos. Pts
1995 Omegaland Reynard 95D Zytek-Judd SIL
Ret 		CAT
Ret 		PAU PER HOC SPA EST MAG NC 0
1997 DKS Racing Lola T96/50 Zytek-Judd SIL
5 		PAU
11 		HEL
3 		NÜR
24 		PER HOC A1R SPA MUG JER 12th 6
1998 Auto Sport Racing Lola T96/50 Zytek-Judd OSC IMO
Ret 		CAT
19 		SIL
10 		MON
8 		PAU A1R HOC HUN SPA PER NÜR 28th 0
1999 Coloni Motorsport Lola T99/50 Zytek IMO MON CAT MAG SIL A1R HOC HUN SPA
10 		NÜR
DNQ 		NC 0
2000 World Racing Team Lola T99/50 Zytek IMO SIL CAT NÜR MON MAG A1R
DNQ 		HOC
Ret 		HUN SPA NC 0
2001 Team Astromega Lola T99/50 Zytek INT IMO CAT A1R
7 		MON
Ret 		NÜR
22 		MAG
20 		SIL
Ret 		HOC HUN SPA MNZ 21st 0

Personal life

Morelli is based in Portrush, and runs a successful business. His family were the founders of the Morelli's ice cream parlour business in Northern Ireland.

References

  1. "Nurburgring race stopped after hard crash". Motorsport. Retrieved 9 August 2022.
  2. "Pescatori and Terrien take win". Autosport. Retrieved 9 August 2022.
  3. "Dino Morelli". DriverDB. Retrieved 9 August 2022.
  4. "Dino Morelli". motorsportstats.com. Retrieved 9 August 2022.
  5. "Dino Morelli". speedsport-magazine.com. Retrieved 9 August 2022.
  6. "Crashes mar Monaco F3000". crash.net. 26 May 2001. Retrieved 9 August 2022.
  7. "Closing up the championship". grandprix.com. Retrieved 9 August 2022.
  8. "The Gail Walker Interview: Ice Cool Family". Belfasttelegraph.co.uk. Belfast Telegraph. 15 September 2003. Retrieved 9 August 2022.
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