Difference between revisions of "Roberto Dinella"

Latest revision as of 14:02, 13 July 2016

Roberto Dinella (born 1st March 1996 in Turin, Italy) is an Italian racing driver currently competing for Jones Racing in the 2016 season of the Formula 3 Rejects World Race Series.

Racing career

Mini-bikes and Formula Abarth (2003-2013)

Dinella was born in 1996 in Turin to wealthy parents who'd made a fortune in the construction industry, and having developed an interest in motor racing from an early age, he followed his older brother Paolo into motorbikes at the tender age of 7. Roberto spent many years competing in the various categories of mini-bikes in northern Italy, when aged 15, his career on two wheels was cut short. Paolo, three years Roberto's senior, suffered a violent crash during a race in the Spanish 125cc Championship at Jerez which resulted in a smashed pelvis requiring major surgery, and traumatised by the incident, the boys' parents demanded that with Paolo's career over, Roberto either switch to racing cars, which they perceived as safer, or quit racing altogether. Not wanting to abandon his dream of racing internationally, Roberto switched to four wheels, and entered Formula Abarth for the 2011 season. He spent a total of three years in the series, racking up a string of race wins, although the title always eluded him.

Italian F4, RoLFS & F3RWRS (2014-2016)

Despite that, by 2014 Dinella had done enough to attract the attention of metals manufacturer Lampre, who were seeking an up-and-coming Italian to sponsor having seen the benefits that airline company Alitalia had enjoyed with their major programme which included a partnership with Lancia to form the Scuderia Alitalia team. With Lampre backing behind him, Dinella continued in the re-branded Italian F4 series for 2014, enjoying a moderately successful year that included a strong haul of points and three podium finishes.

A strong finish to the season attracted the attention of a number of team bosses around Europe, and Dinella was offered a drive at the Grands Travaux Inutiles team in Rejects of LFS following the suspension of Simon Garfünkel. There his performances were mixed, as despite only finishing 19th in the feature race, he took full advantage of the reversed grid for the sprint race and drove well to secure a podium finish with second place. Sammy Jones had seen Dinella's rise through the ranks, and decided that along with his sizeable Lampre backing, Roberto was worth signing for his F3RWRS team, Jones Racing, for the 2015 season.

Dinella spent two years with the Jones team in F3RWRS, during which the team's own chassis design began to dominate the series. His first year proved to be difficult, as he came to terms with an international race series for the first time in his career, he didn't score points in the first thirteen races until back-to-back top ten finishes in Italy and Japan. His second season showed much more promise however, with numerous points finishes and an emotional first victory in the series at his home race in Italy. A second place in Germany confirmed his ability but a poor second half of the year saw his slim title aspirations fall away, ultimately ending up in ninth place overall. He formed part of the Jones team invited to the 2016 Macau Junior Masters and while teammate Nick Nurmester secured victory, Dinella was out on lap 1 in a big multi-car accident.

F2RWRS and IPC (2017-present)

Jones chose not to renew Dinella's contract at the end of 2016, and so he looked to move up the motorsport ladder. A drive in the Japanese FRENCH category with Okayama Racing was a non-starter after the team collapsed before the series had even begun. Instead it was F2RWRS where he was able to secure a drive with Aston Martin Motor Racing, helped in no small part by his sizeable sponsorship package. Much like his first year in F3RWRS, Dinella struggled to come to terms with the more powerful machinery, and scored points on only two occasions during the year, leaving him well down the standings and out of favour at the end of the year.

With no offers on the table for a drive for 2018, Dinella changed focus and decided to pursue a career in closed-cockpit racing. He accepted an offer from Definitely Maybe Racing to drive at the 2017 Kyalami 9 Hours although the team's challenge ended after 79 laps with engine failure.

Dinella was keen to continue however, and his attention turned to touring cars instead where he secured a drive with Adriatica Touring Racing who fielded a pair of Subaru Imprezas for Dinella and Santiago Guglielminpietro in the B-Class of the International Procar Championship. Adriatica proved to be one of the most competitive teams in the B-Class, with Guglielminpietro topping the table at the halfway mark of the year. Dinella saw less success though, with a best result of fourth place in Illinois and consistent points finishes through the season.

Racing record

Career summary

• 1 Dinella's team Okayama Racing failed to arrive at the opening race of the series at Autopolis and were subsequently barred from entering the championship.

Complete RoLFS results

Complete F3RWRS results

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

Complete F2RWRS results

Complete IPC results

(Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

* Season still in progress.
† Did not finish, but was classified as he had completed more than 90% of the race distance.
^ Most positions gained in the race (awarded one point per race in IPC).