Dino Morelli
{{short description|British racing driver}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{no footnotes|date=February 2009}}
{{Infobox racing driver
| name = Dino Morelli
| image =
| caption =
| nationality = British
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1973|06|06}}
| birth_place = Ballymoney, Northern Ireland
| death_date =
| death_place =
| related to =
| last series = Formula 3000
| years active = 1995-2001
| teams = Team Astromega
World Racing Team
Coloni Motorsport
Auto Sport Racing
DKS Racing
Omegaland
| starts = 17
| wins = 0
| poles = 0
| fastest laps = 0
| best finish = 12th
| year = 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.{{cite web|url=https://us.motorsport.com/f3000/news/nurburgring-race-stopped-after-hard-crash/1686126/|title=Nurburgring race stopped after hard crash|publisher=Motorsport|access-date=9 August 2022}}
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.{{cite web|url=https://www.autosport.com/gt/news/pescatori-and-terrien-take-win-5025242/5025242/|title=Pescatori and Terrien take win|publisher=Autosport|access-date=9 August 2022}} In 2001, he completed five races for Team Astromega with a best finish of 7th place.{{cite web|url=https://www.driverdb.com/drivers/dino-morelli/|title=Dino Morelli|publisher=DriverDB|access-date=9 August 2022}}{{cite web|url=https://motorsportstats.com/driver/dino-morelli/summary/series/f3000-international-championship|title=Dino Morelli|publisher=motorsportstats.com|access-date=9 August 2022}}{{cite web|url=https://www.speedsport-magazine.com/race-driver-database/biography/dino-morelli_-_542.html|title=Dino Morelli|publisher=speedsport-magazine.com|access-date=9 August 2022}} He retired from both the Monaco and British rounds of the championship after crashes.{{cite web|url=https://www.crash.net/gp2/news/64986/1/crashes-mar-monaco-f3000|title=Crashes mar Monaco F3000|date=26 May 2001 |publisher=crash.net|access-date=9 August 2022}}{{cite web|url=https://www.grandprix.com/features/joe-saward/f3000-report-closing-up-the-championship.html|title=Closing up the championship|publisher=grandprix.com|access-date=9 August 2022}}
Racing record
=Career summary=
| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 87%; text-align:center"
! Season ! Series ! Team ! Races ! Wins ! Poles ! F.Laps ! Podiums ! Points ! Position |
| 1990
|align=left| Formula Ford Festival |align=left| ? | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 22nd |
|---|
| 1991
|align=left| British Formula Ford Championship |align=left| Fulmar | ? | 2 | ? | ? | ? | 157 | 4th |
| 1992
|align=left| Formula Opel Lotus Euroseries |align=left| ? | ? | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | NC |
| rowspan=2 | 1993
|align=left| British Formula Three Championship |align=left| P1 Engineering | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | NC |
| align=left| Formula Opel Lotus Euroseries
|align=left| David Sears Motorsport | ? | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | NC |
| rowspan=2 | 1994
|align=left| British Formula Three Championship | rowspan=2 align=left| P1 Engineering | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 63 | 9th |
| align=left| Macau Grand Prix
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11th |
| 1995
|align=left| International Formula 3000 |align=left| Omegaland | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | NC |
| 1996
|align=left| Italian Formula Three Championship |align=left| Coloni Motorsport | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 12th |
| rowspan=2 | 1997
|align=left| International Formula 3000 | rowspan=2 align=left| DKS Racing | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 12th |
| align=left| British Formula 3000
| 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | NC |
| 1998
|align=left| International Formula 3000 | align=left| Auto Sport Racing | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | NC |
| rowspan=2 | 1999
|align=left| International Formula 3000 | rowspan=2 align=left| Coloni Motorsport | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | NC |
| align=left| Italian Formula 3000
| 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 13 | 5th |
| rowspan=3 | 2000
|align=left| International Formula 3000 |align=left| World Racing Team | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | NC |
| align=left| Italian Formula 3000
|align=left| Durango | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | NC |
| align=left| Sports Racing World Cup - SR2
|align=left| Tampolli Engineering | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 17 | 27th |
| 2001
|align=left| International Formula 3000 |align=left| 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.)
| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; font-size:90%"
! Year ! Entrant ! Chassis ! Engine ! 1 ! 2 ! 3 ! 4 ! 5 ! 6 ! 7 ! 8 ! 9 ! 10 ! 11 ! 12 ! {{Tooltip|Pos.|Championship position}} ! Pts |
| 1995
! Omegaland |style="background:#EFCFFF;"| SIL |style="background:#EFCFFF;"| CAT | PAU | PER | HOC | SPA | EST | MAG | | | | ! NC ! 0 |
| 1997
! DKS Racing |style="background:#DFFFDF;"| SIL |style="background:#CFCFFF;"| PAU |style="background:#FFDF9F;"| HEL |style="background:#CFCFFF;"| NÜR | PER | HOC | A1R | SPA | MUG | JER | | ! 12th ! 6 |
| 1998
! Auto Sport Racing | OSC |style="background:#EFCFFF;"| IMO |style="background:#CFCFFF;"| CAT |style="background:#CFCFFF;"| SIL |style="background:#CFCFFF;"| MON | PAU | A1R | HOC | HUN | SPA | PER | NÜR ! 28th ! 0 |
| 1999
! Zytek | IMO | MON | CAT | MAG | SIL | A1R | HOC | HUN |style="background:#CFCFFF;"| SPA |style="background:#FFCFCF;"| NÜR | | ! NC ! 0 |
| 2000
! World Racing Team ! Zytek | IMO | SIL | CAT | NÜR | MON | MAG |style="background:#FFCFCF;"| A1R |style="background:#EFCFFF;"| HOC | HUN | SPA | | ! NC ! 0 |
| 2001
! Zytek | INT | IMO | CAT |style="background:#CFCFFF;"| A1R |style="background:#EFCFFF;"| MON |style="background:#CFCFFF;"| NÜR |style="background:#CFCFFF;"| MAG |style="background:#EFCFFF;"| SIL | 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.{{cite news|url=https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/imported/the-gail-walker-interview-ice-cool-family-28185519.html|title=The Gail Walker Interview: Ice Cool Family|newspaper=Belfasttelegraph.co.uk |date=15 September 2003 |publisher=Belfast Telegraph|access-date=9 August 2022}}
References
{{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Morelli, Dino}}
Category:Racing drivers from Northern Ireland
Category:International Formula 3000 drivers
Category:British Formula 3000 Championship drivers
Category:Sportspeople from Ballymoney
Category:Italian British racing drivers
Category:People from Northern Ireland of Italian descent
Category:Team Astromega drivers
Category:Scuderia Coloni drivers
Category:P1 Motorsport drivers