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]
The Saab 99 is a car which was produced by Saab from 1968 to 1984; their first foray into a larger class than the 96. While considered a large family car in Scandinavia, it was marketed as a niche compact executive car in most other markets. It was manufactured both in Sweden and Finland and was succeeded by the Saab 900, although the 99 continued to be produced aloongside its successor. The Saab 90, an updated, less complex version using many 900 parts took over from the 99 in late 1984.
Group A was a set of motorsport regulations introduced by FIA covering production-derived vehicles intended for outright competition in touring car racing and rallying. In contrast to the short-lived Group B and Group C, the Group A referred to production-derived vehicles limited in terms of power, weight, allowed technology and overall cost. Group A was aimed at ensuring numerous privately owned entries in races.
The Volkswagen Golf is a compact car produced by the German automotive manufacturer Volkswagen since 1974, marketed worldwide across seven generations, in various body configurations and under various nameplates – such as the Volkswagen Rabbit in the United States and Canada, and as the Volkswagen Caribe in Mexico (Mk1).
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 and also won the Tall Pines Rally Overall in a Production class car. [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 as well as winning overall at a national SCCA rally with a Production GT car. [1]
The World Rally Championship (WRC) is a rallying series organised by the FIA, culminating with a champion driver, co-driver and manufacturer. The driver's world championship and manufacturer's world championship are separate championships, but based on the same point system. The series currently consists of 14 three-day events driven on surfaces ranging from gravel and tarmac to snow and ice. Each rally is split into 15–25 special stages which are run against the clock on closed roads.
The Mount Washington Hillclimb Auto Race, also known as the Climb to the Clouds, is a timed hillclimb auto race up the Mount Washington Auto Road to the summit of Mount Washington in New Hampshire. It is one of the oldest auto races in the country, first run on July 11 and 12, 1904, predating the Indianapolis 500 and the Pikes Peak Hillclimb. The event was revived in 2011 and was held again in 2014 and 2017.
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. [3] 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. [3]
SCCA ProRally was an American rally racing series, run by the Sports Car Club of America from 1973 until 2004. The SCCA discontinued it for 2005, due to concerns about safety and insurance. It allowed Rally America to replace it, utilizing most of the same venues and existing infrastructure.
Sega Rally 2006 is an arcade oriented racing game developed and published by Sega for PlayStation 2. It is the third installment in the decade running Sega Rally series, and it was released in Japan on January 12, 2006 and in Korea on March 30, 2006. This version is the first non-arcade-version–based Sega Rally. Its action footage was used in World Rally Championship.
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. [4] [5] [6]
The Rally America National Championship was the national championship of rallying events in the United States. The inaugural season was in 2005. Rally America was also the name given to the organization that sanctioned the championship, was briefly rebranded to RallyCar in July 2010, then reverted to Rally America the following year.
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, 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.
Prodrive is a British motorsport and advanced engineering group based in Banbury, Oxfordshire, England. It designs, constructs and races cars for companies and teams such as Aston Martin, Mini and Volkswagen. Its advanced technology division now applies this motorsport engineering approach to deliver engineering solutions into automotive OEMs, aerospace, defence, marine and other sectors, which now represents more than half its turnover. Prodrive also has a specialist composite division based in Milton Keynes where it manufactures lightweight carbon composite CFRP and visual carbon components for many supercars and increasingly for the luxury automotive, aerospace and marine sectors.
Mark Lovell was a British rally driver. He won the 1986 British Rally Championship in a Ford RS200 Group B, the 1987 and 1988 Irish Tarmac Rally Championship, the 1988 International Dutch Rally Drivers' Championship and the 2001 SCCA ProRally Drivers' Championship in the United States. He also won the 2003 Pikes Peak Rally only two weeks before his death.
John Buffum is the most successful U.S. rally driver ever, winning 11 national titles and 117 national championship events.
Sno*Drift is a rally racing event held in Montmorency County, Michigan, annually, with headquarters in Atlanta, Michigan. The event is currently the first Rally America National Rally Championship event of the season. Currently the event is organized into three distinct rallies: the national championship event covering both days of rallying, and two regional rally events each covering one of the two days. Competitors may be entered in any or all of these events simultaneously.
Sno*Drift 2005 was a car rally held on January 28–29, 2005 as part of the Rally America ProRally and ClubRally series around Atlanta, Michigan. It was the 19th Sno*Drift event held, and the 16th to be held as part of a national series.
Chris Atkinson is a professional rally driver. In the WRC, he drove for the Subaru World Rally Team from 2004 to 2008. His best finish on an individual WRC event is second, which he achieved at the 2008 Rally México and Rally Argentina. Other podium placings include third-place finishes at the 2005 Rally Japan and the 2008 Monte Carlo Rally.
Travis Alan Pastrana is an American professional motorsports competitor and stunt performer who has won championships and X Games gold medals in several events, including supercross, motocross, freestyle motocross, and rally racing. He runs a show called Nitro Circus, and previously competed in the NASCAR Nationwide Series for Roush Fenway Racing the Global RallyCross Championship for Subaru Rally Team USA, and the Monster Jam circuit, in his own Pastrana 199 truck.
Elliott Forbes-Robinson is a road racing racecar driver. He is known for his race wins and championships in many different series, including the American Le Mans Series (ALMS), Super Vee, Trans-Am Series, CanAm, IMSA GTU, and the World Challenge. He is known in NASCAR circles as a road course ringer. He is also a founder of the Legends Cars of 600 Racing and he designed their original car.
Randy Franklin Pobst, also known as "RFP" or "The Rocket," is an American race car driver and journalist for Motor Trend magazine.
Rodney K. "Rod" Millen is a racing competitor, vehicle designer, and business owner. He has competed in numerous genres of motorsports, including rally racing, off-road racing, hillclimbing, drifting, and super touring.
Tanner Foust is a professional racing driver, stunt driver, and television host. He competes in rally, drift, ice racing, time attack and rallycross with multiple podium placements, national championships, and world records. He was a co-host of the American version of the motoring television series, Top Gear.
Kenneth Block is a professional rally driver with the Hoonigan Racing Division, formerly known as the Monster World Rally Team. Block is also one of the co-founders of DC Shoes. Over the years, he has also competed in many action sports events including skateboarding, snowboarding, and motocross. Since selling his ownership of DC Shoes, Block has shifted his business focus to Hoonigan Industries, an apparel brand for auto enthusiasts. He is currently the co-owner and "Head Hoonigan In Charge" (HHIC) at the company.
Subaru Rally Team USA is Subaru's rally team that participates in events in the United States and its operations are managed by Vermont SportsCar, previously Prodrive.
Nathalie Richard is a Canadian rally co-driver. She is best known as the co-driver for Subaru Rally Team Canada alongside her brother Pat Richard in 2004 & 2005, and later as co-driver with Antoine L'Estage over 8 seasons. As of 2014 Richard had earned 43 overall national victories in Canada and the US. Nathalie is a three-time X Games Rally Car athlete and the most decorated co-driver in North America.
Johan David Kristoffersson, born 6 December 1988, is a Swedish racecar driver. He is the son of former racing driver and Kristoffersson Motorsport (KMS) team owner Tommy Kristoffersson. He won the Superstars Series championship in 2012, the same year in which he claimed the Scandinavian Touring Car Championship and Porsche Carrera Cup Scandinavia titles. He is the reigning FIA World Rallycross Champion, winning the 2017 and 2018 FIA World Rallycross Championship. He won the 2018 FIA World Rallycross Championship title with a record breaking 11 event wins during the season.
Kristoffersson Motorsport is a Swedish auto racing team owned by racing driver Tommy Kristoffersson. It currently competes in the FIA World Rallycross Championship and Swedish Touring Car Championship, with Tommy's son Johan Kristoffersson as one of the drivers. The team has raced under several sponsored names, such as Team Biogas.se, Volkswagen Dealer Team KMS, Volkswagen Team Sweden, Volkswagen RX Sweden and PSRX Volkswagen World RX Team Sweden.
Bill Rutan was a racing driver and hillclimb racer. Rutan was the winner of the Climb to the Clouds hillclimb in 1961. Rutan also won the SCCA National Championship Runoffs twice in the Formula C class.
