Paul O'Neill down but not out

By Dave Brockman:

21 December 2003

With the announcement that VX racing had signed Luke Hines for their third car, the obvious question was what would happen to Snetterton race-winner Paul O'Neill. We spoke with him on the day the announcement broke, and in part one of this feature we'll look back at his year as well as examining his options for the future.

The self-proclaimed "fat scouser", in only his third season of Touring Cars, kept his experienced team mates James Thompson and Yvan Muller honest all year. By common consent, the Vauxhall Astra was the car to have, but competition from Honda and MG was never far away. Despite the rivalry, Paul had a run of third places and took an emotional win at Snetterton, finishing the season in an impressive fourth place.

I was gutted. There's a lot of good guys in the team and I wish them well

Most people were expecting O'Neill to be re-signed by VX, but on Wednesday we found out the truth. So how did he feel when he was told that his services were no longer required at VX? "I read it on the Triple Eight website!" he told us. "Nah, Ian Harrison let me know and of course I was gutted. There's a lot of good guys in the team and I wish them well. It was bloody hard working there sometimes though, Jimmy and Yvan are tough."

There have, of course, been offers from other teams but they would require Paul to bring an unrealistic amount of money to the party. There is a perception that money is no object thanks to his famous sister, but as Paul himself explained, nothing could be further from the truth. "There's a lot of bullshit talked about my family. There's been a story going round that Mel paid £300,000 for my Vauxhall drive but that's rubbish. The team bosses know the truth but it can be damaging when stories like that go round the paddock."

Anyone doubting that Paul deserves a top drive for 2004 would do well look back at his achievements this season.

The only thing I remember about Mondello was twatting Bennett into the podium!

There was a shaky start at a rain-soaked Mondello Park ("The only thing I remember about that was twatting Bennett into the podium - that's the nearest he got to it all year") but after that his season really picked up.

Paul could have won at Brands Hatch but for the last-minute lunge by former team-mate Matt Neal. Afterwards he appeared to shrug the incident off, but under the surface there was a different story. "The team told me to stay in the car after that. I think they were scared that I'd rip the shit out of him. I probably should have done! You can't win in situations like that. If you have a go back people think you're an arrogant twat, but if you say nothing they accuse you of being too easy going."

The weekend did see Paul start his run of four straight podiums, even if he did have to sacrifice track position in the second race. "It broke my heart to let Jimmy through, but I made a point of slowing right down and almost driving off the track so that everyone watching on telly knew the score. He thought I could have been a bit more subtle about it but... no!"

With access to the paddock restricted at Brands Hatch due to lack of space, Paul was careful to make time for his fans, signing autographs through the wire fencing. Some may see that trait as his downfall - after such a strong performance some drivers would have been pressing the point home to anyone who would listen.

In the second part of this story we'll look at the middle part of the season, including Paul's memories of his season's high point - the win at Snetterton.



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