1990 - Won the Production GT championship in a Mazda 323GTX - first Mazda title since 1984
1991 - Bypassed opportunity to repeat GT title to compete in Jamaican rally - was top overseas finisher
1992 - 1994 - Limited schedule
1995 - Took delivery of Hyundai Elantra late in the season after converting Mazda to Open class and scoring four top 4 finishes
1996, 1997 - Did not finish a rally in 4 attempts
1998 - Retrofitted old 323GTX back to PGT; best finish sixth at Summer Maine
Tom Ottey's rallying experience goes back 20 years, as he was a crew member of Eric Jones' winning team at the very first Susquehannock Trail PRO Rally in 1977.
He began his driving career in 1979, but a skiing accident and nursing school sidelined his full-time rallying until 1990, when girlfriend and co-driver Pam McGarvey piloted a Mazda 323GTX to the Production GT national championship. Ottey/McGarvey were also the class of the field in 1991, but gave up a chance to repeat as champions when they had the opportunity to run in the Mazda/Esso International Stages Motor Rally in Jamaica.
Despite their 100-plus horsepower disadvantage to many of the top European and Caribbean rally teams, the HUN Rally team Mazda 323GTX was fifth overall and tops among the foreign teams entered in the event. They returned to Jamaica in 1992, and were as high as third overall before mechanical problems forced their retirement.
In the interim, Tom and Pam became husband and wife, but their passion for rallying still remained. They took the '93 and '94 seasons off, but came back strong in 1995. In anticipation of delivery of an ex-Rod Millen Hyundai Elantra, they upgraded their 323GTX to an Open class car. Ottey/McGarvey finished second overall to champion Paul Choiniere at the opening event in South Carolina, and then proceeded to battle the 300 - 400 horsepower cars (Choiniere, Joy, Merrill, Shepherd, Moodie, and Kreibich) at the next several rallies with their 180 hp Mazda as delays beset the Hyundai delivery.
Ottey drove the Mazda to the limit, finishing seventh at Sunriser in Ohio, fourth at Rim of the World in California, third as STPR in Pennsylvania, and third at the Maine Summer Rally.
They finally took delivery of the Hyundai late summer of 1995, and debuted the car at the Lake Superior PRO Rally in Michigan in October. Ottey was able to turn stage times close to the leaders even though it was the car's first off-road test, but turbo problems forced the pair out of the event during the second day of competition.
The team's bad luck continued for 1996, with two DNS' due to testing problems (South Carolina and STPR). Other mechanical failures prevented them from finishing a rally in '97, although they were third overall halfway through Lake Superior. Their highest overall finish in 1998 was 6th at Maine Forest Summer event.