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Dino Morelli's unknown accident in Barcelona 1995


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#1 F3000man

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Posted 15 October 2009 - 13:19

Many people know (or at least had already heard about) that talented ulsterman Dino Morelli had one of the worst F3000 accidents ever under the heavy rain of Nurburgring 1997, when he crashed into Gareth Rees' car in the boxes straight to, then, come with no front part towards to crash head-on into the wall. He spent some months out of action recovering from bad injured legs.

But I heard once about another crash he suffered in 1995, when he was in his first year in F3000 driving for Omegaland. He had a very nasty crash in Barcelona and suffered, as in Nurburgring, severe leg injuries, almost having one of them amputated. That's the few information I know about this. Am I just dreaming or this crash really happened? Anybody got more details?

Edited by F3000man, 15 October 2009 - 13:21.


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#2 Andrew Kitson

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Posted 15 October 2009 - 13:38

I only know of the N'ring one, how Dino survived is a miracle! Of course, as ever, on the web on youtube..


#3 midgrid

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Posted 15 October 2009 - 14:42

I have the relevant issue of Autosport which includes coverage of his 1995 accident, but unfortunately I don't have access to it until early December. But I can assure you that it definitely happened.

#4 F3000man

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Posted 16 October 2009 - 17:33

I only know of the N'ring one, how Dino survived is a miracle! Of course, as ever, on the web on youtube..


I just would like to know how Dino crashed into Gareth's car in way that he could be such fast in the straight.

#5 JB Miltonian

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Posted 16 October 2009 - 23:06


Morelli's accident at Barcelona in 1995 is reported in Autosport's issue of May 18, 1995, and in a followup in the next issue. His car suffered total rear brake failure due to a split hydraulic hose and went head-on into the tire barrier. The front wheels were pushed back into the monocoque. His injuries were not as bad as originally feared, no broken bones, but ligament damage in both ankles and both legs in plaster while healing.

#6 LittleChris

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Posted 16 October 2009 - 23:39

I just would like to know how Dino crashed into Gareth's car in way that he could be such fast in the straight.


Can only assume that, although the pedal box was ripped off, the throttle remained stuck open and literally drove him into the tyre wall.


#7 Ross Stonefeld

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Posted 17 October 2009 - 09:58

He probably wouldn't have had a working clutch pedal or rear brakes due to the lines being severed at the front, but I wonder if he thought to use the kill switch on the ignition to shut off the engine.