We were supposed to race in the Vintage festival today, however in the race just before our Dino Crescentini lost his life in a single car crash going up the back straight. He was driving a 1977 Wolf Dellara when it flipped end over end and disintigrated. You might remember him from the Speed World Challenge driving a Mazda 6 for Tri-Point Motorsports. RIP Dino. Racing was cancelled for the rest of day.
http://svrahsr.acsltd.com/SVRA/photo...ks/PHOR-6U9RM4

 

Sad to hear...R.I.P Dino

 

Very sad news, I was there on Saturday watching from corner 5 and I couldn't believe how fast those cars pulled up the back straight. R.I.P Dino

 

That's brutal...


R.I.P. Dino.

 

So apparently, according to a friend of mine who works in Speed World Challenge, this is a different person with the same name?

Here's what was in the paper:

A racecar driver and former Olympic athlete was killed yesterday in a dramatic high-speed crash at Mosport International Raceway near Bowmanville.

Police would not identify the victim until next-of-kin had been notified but sources told the Star the deceased is Dino Crescentini of Rochester Hills, Mich.

Sources said Crescentini was in his early 60s. He was driving a Wolf-Dallara sports car in a race that was part of the 29th International Vintage Racing Festival.

Organizers cancelled the rest of the day's racing events.

Insp. Paul Hamilton of Durham Regional Police said, "(the driver) was heading northbound from corner six at Mosport. After this corner is a long straightaway and at some point his vehicle became airborne at an extremely high rate of speed and rolled end-over-end.

"The driver was transported to Bowmanville hospital where he succumbed to his injuries."

Crescentini had been involved in vintage auto racing for more than 10 years.

He was also a member of the San Marino bobsled team that competed at the 1994 Olympics.

http://www.thestar.com/Sports/article/447510


RIP Dino.

 

Yes, it's not Dino of Speed WC. A terrible loss...

 

This is very sad and shocking, after the news of Scott Kalitta's death when his funny car burst into flames and exploded after hitting the wall at the end of the strip.

Makes you think. We all know the risk associated with the thrill. You always put safety first but you can never prepare for everything.

GodSpeed

 

what a terrible weekend.

 

This is so sad to here. Condolences to his family and crew and others.

Interesting to note, Gilles Villeneuve actually drove that car...

 

Here is a link to some photo's of the before and after. I have looked at the photos and read the reports and it looks like the nose broke away (either the latches failed or the nose wasn't attached properly), the car flipped onto its back and hit the wall upside down and backwards. You can see the pavement wear marks on the trumpets, the scratches in the pavement and dirt from the roll bar and trumpets. The engine looks to have been driven between the bars of the roll cage into the drivers back and the distance between the rear roll hoop and the front roll hoop looks to be shorter. Poor Dino didn't stand a chance.

The car looks to be well prepared and Dino ran the car often so he was experienced with the power. It is always going to be a bigger hit when you are going faster and those single seater Can Am cars go very fast. So I will stay in my slower sedans that have more crush capability. I promised my wife a long time ago that I wouldn't race open wheel cars and my life insurance won't cover me if I crash at over 180 mph. That brings up the bigger issue. Dino is gone and that is sad, but he knew what he was doing and assumed the risks. I feel sorry for the ones left behind who have to pick up the pieces.

Eric