Tim O'Neil

Tim O'Neil
Nationality	American
Rally America career
Debut season	1986
Current team	Team O'Neil
Former teams	Mitsubishi, Volkswagen
Previous series
SCCA ProRally
Championship titles
1989, 1992	SCCA ProRally Group A Champion, GT Champion

Tim O'Neil is an American rally racing driver, and the winner of five North American rally championships.^[1] He has driven both as a privateer, and as a factory driver for Volkswagen and Mitsubishi.^[1]

Racing career

1980s

O'Neil's first rallying experience was in 1986, racing a Saab 99 he had prepared, winning Canada's Novice of the Year.^[1] Prior to this he had raced stock cars, receiving rookie of the year honors in 1982.^[1] In 1987, he won the New England Division Championship.^[1] He was recruited by Volkswagen in 1988 to drive the Group A Golf GTI.^[1] During that year's Press On Regardless Rally, he led for over two days before getting stuck in a ditch on the last stage.^[1] He achieved his first overall victory at the Tall Pines Rally, clinching the Canadian Group A title.^[1]

He formed Team O'Neil Motorsport in 1989 as Volkswagen moved from Group A to the Production Class.^[1] He won six of the first eight SCCA National ProRally Championship Events, locking up both individual and manufacturer's championships by midseason.^[1] As North American Production Champion, he also became the first Production class driver to win overall at an SCCA national event.^[1]

1990s

In 1990, O'Neil drove the AWD, supercharged Rallye Golf prototype to three overall wins and then became the first American in years to compete in Finland's 1000 Lakes Rally, a World Rally Championship event.^[1] In the same year, he used the car to set a record time of 7m, 45s in the Mount Washington Hillclimb Auto Race.^[2] In 1992, O'Neil was signed by Mitsubishi, and drove a Galant VR4 to win the National GT Championship.^[1]

2000s

O'Neil drove a United States Air Force Reserve sponsored 2002 Ford SVT Focus in the 2002 and 2003 SCCA ProRally Championship seasons, which was featured in the game Sega Rally 2006.^[3] At the end of the 2003 season, he announced his retirement from competition to focus on his Rally School.^[3]

He began competing again in 2006, driving a Subaru WRX STI, in several events in the Rally America National Championship in 2006 and 2007.^[4][5][6]

2010s

During 2014, O'Neil drove EVSR, the fully electric racecar, during Subaru's Climb to the Clouds Hillclimb at Mt Washington, NH. It was the first electric vehicle to compete in this event since its creation. Tim bested his old hill record with a time of 7:28. He now holds the fastest electric record at Mt. Washington.

Rally School

O'Neil started the Tim O'Neil Rally School in 1997, after having spent several years coaching other rally drivers on techniques, most notably, the skill of left-foot braking.^[1][7]

Complete Rally Results

SCCA ProRally Results

• Limited Data was available for this year.

Rally America Results

Sources