Brazilian driver dies after collision

The Brazilian Formula 3000 driver Marco Campos died in hospital in Paris yesterday after a crash at Magny Cours at the weekend.

"He died this morning at about 1.00 am," Adriano Morini, the manager of the Draco team, said. "We are totally destroyed, in despair."

Campos, 19, hit the rear wheel of the Italian driver Thomas Biagi on the last lap of Sunday's race, cartwheeling several times and sustaining severe head injuries. He was declared clinically dead on Monday.

He was the first driver to die in Formula 3000 since the series started in 1985.

Morini, who also worked with the Brazilian Formula One driver Rubens Barrichello in 1990, said he had discovered Campos and brought him to Italy. "I trained him myself," he said.

"He was special. It's hard to compare him to other drivers, but he had a special talent. He was one of the best."