Paul O'Neill (racing driver)
| Paul O'Neill | |
|---|---|
| Nationality |  British |
| Born | December 31, 1979 Widnes (England) |
| 2012 British Touring Car Championship | |
| Debut season | 2001 |
| Current team | GoMobileUK.com with Tech-Speed |
| Car no. | 29 |
| Former teams | Motorbase Performance Triple Eight |
| Starts | 124 |
| Wins | 2 |
| Poles | 0 |
| Fastest laps | 3 |
| Best finish | 4th in 2003 |
| Previous series | |
| 2009 2008 1999–2000 |
Dunlop Sport Maxx British GT MGF Cup |
Paul O'Neill (born 31 December 1979) is a auto racing driver from Widnes of Irish parentage, and the half-brother of 'Sporty Spice' Mel C.
[edit] Career
O'Neill was originally attracted to racing after seeing Nigel Mansell win the 1987 British Grand Prix, but did not pursue a career initially, studying for A-Levels but not completing them.
After attending the Jim Russell racing school, he began racing in the MGF cup in 1999 and 2000, before entering the production class of the British Touring Car Championship in 2001. He did not win a race, but took 3 class podiums and 2 class poles en route to 8th in the class. This was enough to earn him a drive with Team Egg Sport in their semi-works Touring Class Vauxhall Astra Coupe for 2002. He was 8th in this championship, and then stepped up to the factory Vauxhall team for 2003, finishing 4th in the series.
He was not expected to retain the drive for 2004, but early that year he discovered that he had diabetes, and his racing license was temporarily withdrawn. Once the condition was under control he did not immediately resume racing, instead helping his former team Tech-Speed prepare their bio-ethanol powered car, tutoring driver Fiona Leggate and fulfilling the post of race engineer. He also raced the guest car in the Porsche Carrera Cup at Oulton Park in 2006 along with some Ginettas Racing.
Following Leggate's premature departure from Tech-Speed, O'Neill signed for the team to compete in the final two race weekends of the 2006 British Touring Car Championship season. Ironically this car is powered by sugar beet, which his diabetes prevents him from eating. He scored a 10th place in his first race back. Notably, while most drivers at this September Brands Hatch meeting were slower than they had been at the April meeting due to different track conditions, O'Neill was over a second faster than Leggate's time from that meeting in some practice sessions. At Silverstone he was hampered by engine issues in practice[1] but took 2 top 10 finishes on raceday. He did not keep the drive for 2007, Techspeed opting instead to unite with the Turkish Arkas team and run Erkut Kızılırmak. He competed in the final round of 2007 with Motorbase Performance in a SEAT Toledo.
O'Neill returned to Tech-Speed for the 2009 British Touring Car Championship season, partnering Martyn Bell in a two-car team. He scored a third place at Snetterton, and as of round seven at Knockhill he had scored points in 11 successive races[2]
O'Neill has remained with Tech-Speed for 2010, now joined by John George.
O'Neill is currently a motor racing instructor at the Oulton Park circuit in Cheshire, and worked at Ikea to "keep his feet on the ground bringing in a wage" during his first season of touring car racing.
[edit] Complete BTCC results
(key) Races in bold indicate pole position (1 point awarded - 2001-2002 all races, 2003-present just for first race, 2001 in class) Races in italics indicate fastest lap (1 point awarded all races, 2001 in class) * signifies that driver lead race for at least one lap (1 point given - 2001-2002 just for feature race, 2003-present all races, 2001 in class)
[edit] References
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