Tim O'Neil is an American rally racing driver, and the winner of five production-based North American rally championships.Biography Tim O'Neil, Team O'Neil Rally School, Rally Racing News He has driven both as a privateer, and as a factory driver for Volkswagen and Mitsubishi.
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. Prior to this he had raced stock cars, receiving rookie of the year honors in 1982. In 1987, he won the New England Division Championship. He was recruited by Volkswagen in 1988 to drive the Group A Golf GTI. During that year's Press On Regardless Rally, he led for over two days before getting stuck in a ditch on the last stage. He achieved his first overall victory at the Tall Pines Rally, clinching the Canadian Group A title.
He formed Team O'Neil Motorsport in 1989 as Volkswagen moved from Group A to the Production Class. He won six of the first eight SCCA National ProRally Championship Events, locking up both individual and manufacturer's championships by midseason. As North American Production Champion, he also became the first Production class driver to win overall at an SCCA national event and also won the Tall Pines Rally Overall in a Production class car.
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. In the same year, he used the car to set a record time of 7m, 45s in the Mount Washington Hillclimb Auto Race.The Climb to the Clouds Vintage Hillclimb at the Mt. Washington Auto Road at the base of Mt. Washington, Pinkham Notch New Hampshire In 1992, O'Neil was signed by Mitsubishi, and drove a Galant VR4 to win the National GT Championship as well as winning overall at a national SCCA rally with a Production GT car.
2000s O'Neil drove a United States Air Force Reserve sponsored Group N Subaru WRX to many National class wins in 2002. He then drove a 2002 Ford SVT Focus in the 2003 SCCA ProRally Championship season and had many podium finishes. This car was featured in the game Sega Rally 2006. At the end of the 2003 season, he announced a short retirement from competition to focus on developing his Rally School, the Team O'Neil Rally School in northern New Hampshire.
Tim spent much of the 2000s training rally drivers who later went on to win many national championships, including Travis Pastrana, Ken Block, Dave Mirra, and many more.
He began competing again in 2006, driving a Subaru WRX STI, in several events in the Rally America National Championship in 2006 and 2007.
Tim also became involved with organizing the New England Forest Rally in the late 2000s as well as organizing several other rally races in the northeast.
2010s Tim O'Neil continued developing the Team O'Neil Rally School as well as Team O'Neil Motorsports, a racing team that specializes in modifying production-based vehicles and has won many SCCA and Rally America National Championships.
During 2014, O'Neil drove EVSR, the fully electric racecar created by Entropy Racing, 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.Team O'Neil Rally School & Car Control Center | Press
Complete Rally Results
SCCA ProRally Results
Year Class Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 DC Points 1988 Group A VW GTI Chattahoochee Forest Rally3 Happy Trails PRO RallyeDNP Sunriser 400 Forest Rallyy3 Susquehannock Trail Performance RallyDNF Wild West PRO RallyDNP Ojibwe Forests Rally4 Press On RegardlessDNF Coachmen Stages Rally1 * * 1989 Production VW GTI Chattahoochee Forest Rally* Sunriser 400 Forest Rallyy1 Pacific Forest Rally1 Rim of the World Rally1 Susquehannock Trail Performance Rally1 Ojibwe Forests Rally1 Press On Regardless RallyDNF Coachman Stages RallyDNF 1 * 1990 Group A VW GTI Sunriser 400 Forest RallyyDNF Rim of the World Rally1 Tiadaghton Trail PRO RallyDNF Susquehannock Trail Performance RallyDNF Ojibwe Forests RallyDNP Goldrush PRO RallyDNP Press On Regardless RallyDNF Coachman Stages Rally1 * * 1991 Group A VW GTI Rim of the World RallyDNF Tiadaghton Trail PRO Rally2 Susquehannock Trail Performance RallyDNF Ojibwe Forests RallyDNF Goldrush PRO RallyDNP Press On Regardless RallyDNP Coachman Stages RallyDNP Maine Forest RallyDNP * * 1992 PGT Mitsubishi Galant VR-4 Big Bend Bash Divisional PRO RallyDNP Prescott Forest RallyDNP Rim of the WorldDNP Susquehannock Trail Performance RallyDNF Ojibwe Forests Rally1 Goldrush PRO Rally1 Press On Regardless RallyDNF Capital Forests Stages1 Maine Forest Rally1 1 80 2001 Production Subaru Impreza WRX Sno*Drift ProRallyDNP Cherokee Trails ProRallyDNP Rim of the WorldDNP Oregon Trail RallyDNP Susquehannock Trail Performance Rally3 Maine Forest Rally1 Ojibwe Forests ProRallyDNP Wild West ProRallyDNP Prescott Forest ProRallyDNP Lake Superior ProRallyDNP 12 14 2003 Open Ford Focus Sno*Drift ProRallyDNF Rim of the World Rally5 Susquehannock Trail Performance Rally2 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb3 Oregon Trail Rally2 Maine Forest RallyDNF Ojibwe Forests ProRally5 Wild West ProRallyDNF Lake Superior ProRally8 4 76 2004 Open Subaru Impreza WRX STi Sno*Drift ProRallyDNP Oregon Trail RallyDNP Rim of the World RallyDNP Susquehannock Trail Performance RallyDNP Pikes Peak International Hill ClimbDNP Maine Forest RallyDNP Ojibwe Forests ProRallyDNP Colorado CogDNP Lake Superior ProRally2 17 17 Limited Data was available for this year.
Rally America Results
Year Class Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 DC Points 2006 Open Subaru Impreza WRX STi Sno*DriftDNP Rally in the 100 Acre WoodDNP Oregon TrailDNP Susquehannock Trail Performance RallyDNP Maine Forest RallyDNP Ojibwe Forests RallyDNP Colorado CogDNP Lake Superior Rally2 Wild West RallyDNP 18 17 2007 Open Subaru Impreza WRX STi Sno*DriftDNP Rally in the 100 Acre WoodDNP Oregon TrailDNP Olympus RallyDNP Susquehannock Trail Performance RallyDNP New England Forest Rally6 Ojibwe Forests RallyDNP Rally ColoradoDNP Lake Superior RallyDNP 22 8 2008 2 Wheel Drive Mazdaspeed3 Sno*DriftDNP Rally in the 100 Acre WoodDNP Oregon TrailDNP Olympus RallyDNP Susquehannock Trail Performance RallyDNP New England Forest RallyDNF Ojibwe Forests RallyDNP Rally ColoradoDNP Lake Superior RallyDNP 18 1
Sources