Select Gear 2001
Team O'Neil Car Control Center and
Rally School

There isn't one of us who hasn't wondered how good we really are behind the wheel - and it isn't necessary to undertake a racing career to explore one's own driving limits. Instead, we recommend enrolling in Team O'Neil's Car Control Center and Rally School, which not only can teach a driver how to do it better, it's more fun than anything that requires keeping your clothes on - as Tim McKinney pointed out in his review of the school, "More Gas, Less Steering." in our March 2001 issue.
O'Neil is a former VW factory rally driver who "loves to play in the dirt." After a stint in Europe working as an instructor and demo driver, he didn't want to stray too far away from his first love, rallying, and returned to North America to work for Jean-Paul Luc's winter driving school. There he discovered a love for teaching and subsequently discovered there was a demand for instruction both for budding rally racers and just for those who want to see what it's like to go rally racing.
He set up shop near his home in New Hampshire and has since built perhaps the premiere rally school in the world. More than 3 miles of stage roads comprised of groomed gravel are augmented by a skid pad, accent avoidance pad and slalom area - and Tim has plans to expand the facilities even further.
Schools include a two-day car control course, winter driving instruction, a three-day rally school and, for those with the aptitude, advanced rally techniques, including mastery of the infamous "Scandinavian Flick".
Around these offices we reserve a special awe for professional race drivers, and none are considered more god-like than those who rip along dirt, mud and gravel tracks for a living. The hairiest rides we've taken in competition machinery have been in rally cars, and we've dreamed of being able to toss a car around like the pros. Though we know we'll probably never get that good, we're thrilled that there's someone like Tim O'Neil out there. Maybe the next great American rally driver is taking one of his courses right now.