Paul O'Neill (racing driver)
| Paul O'Neill | |
|---|---|
| Nationality | British |
| Born |
31 December 1979 Widnes (England) |
| Related to | Melanie Chisholm (half–sister) |
| British Touring Car Championship career | |
| Debut season | 2001 |
| Current team | RCIB Insurance Racing |
| Car no. | 58 |
| Former teams |
Speedworks Motorsport Tech-Speed Motorsport Motorbase Performance VX Racing |
| Starts | 142 |
| Wins | 2 |
| Poles | 0 |
| Fastest laps | 3 |
| Best finish | 4th in 2003 |
| Previous series | |
| 2009 2007–08 1999–2000 |
Dunlop Sport Maxx British GT MGF Cup |
Paul O'Neill (born 31 December 1979 in Widnes, Cheshire) is an auto racing driver of Irish parentage, and the half-brother of English singer Melanie C.
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.
His efforts in the production class were 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the drive for 2004, but early that year he discovered that he had diabetes, and his racing licence was temporarily withdrawn.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 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.
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