Roberto Dinella

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.

Early Life and Career
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. 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 made the step up to Italian F3 for 2014, and quickly found his feet, enjoying a moderately successful debut 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 with a vacancy at Grands Travaux Inutiles in the Rejects of LFS following the suspension of Simon Garfünkel from the final race weekend of the year, the Aston GP, Dinella was signed up to fill in. 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.

RoLFS Results

 * * Indicates a season currently in progress.
 * † Indicates driver did not complete full race distance but was still classified.