by: Khaled Karam
Full Video Summary for the 2013 Summer Rally (all drivers)>> http://bit.ly/14wsEvc
It has certainly been a class act by Roger Feghali in the 2013 Summer Rally. At the start of the rally few doubted the result, but the gap is honestly too much! Roger finished every stage at an average of 23.1 seconds faster than the guys in second place, which makes him 1.7 seconds faster in each Kilometer… again, its too much, not to mention that I genuinely believe that he had more to give especially in the final 2 stages. Nobody argues against the fact that Roger has the best package but other drivers do have excellent packages too, and although Roger is driving an R4 EVO 10, the other cars are not slower and especially if we mention Bannout’s RRC and the other EVO 10s.
If you have missed Roger’s video review for the Summer Rally, Watch here >> http://bit.ly/114AP0T
The biggest frustration in the race came around 3 KM inside SS1 where Abdo Feghali retired due to a personal error inside the car which distracted him and dragged him off the road. The only man with the potential to challenge the “RED BARON”, was out early, and the battle for second place was on! Theoretically, Gilbert Bannout with his MINI RRC should have been the man for the occasion but the end result proved different. On the other hand Red Bull new athlete Nicolas Amiouni proved to have the pace and held 2nd position comfortable ahead of SS6 where he suffered a puncture that cost him his place.
Amiouni proved to be resilient and although he lost stage 7 to Bannout, a stage that suits Bannout’s car, more than Amiouni’s he fought back in the Final stage to grab second place. The fight was not only about those 2, Chafic Boulos was excellent and bounced back from a disappointing Spring Rally to fight hard for a podium finish so did Tamer Ghandour who was one of the most impressive drivers in the rally and after a setback in first stages of the rally due to a puncture he bounced back and entered the mix in the fight for the podium finish at the end of the Rally.
Disappointment for Eddy Abou Karam, Rabih Ayoub, Garo Haroutian and Joseph Hindy should be at its utmost. This group of drivers had the pace and they were fighting hard. Eddy who was forced to retire in SS3 due to mistake, Punctures and Mechanical difficulties put Hindy out after SS4. Garo scored an amazing time in SS1 but was also hit with trouble to quit after SS2 and Rabih Ayoub suffered a shoulder muscle injury to put him out of the rally.
To benefit from this situation, Danny Abou Chakra proved very consistent improved his pace and took his car to his best ever rally finish in 6th place. Danny is ever improving and was able to take 6th ahead of Tony Helou who scored the promotion cup win. In 8th place Emile Abou Karam finished a rally where he was in to enjoy. Emile made a few mistakes but was smart enough to finish the Rally the way he wanted, same as Michel Feghali on his first ever participation. The Hill Climb RWD champion finish in 9th place. Michel on an EVO 7 was very satisfied and finishing a rally in the first participation is not an easy Task.
Moving to the battle of the FWD category, Henry Massaad made the best comeback he can think of. Henry who was away from the sport for years came back to drive a relatively old car, the Clio Williams and challenge for the category win. Massaad who shared spoils with his direct competitor Robert Aaraj in the first half of the rally, kept his composure and made the maximum out of his car. On the other hand Aaraj who claimed to have faced mechanical problems in SS5 was not able to cut the deficit and overhaul towards the end of the race, despite his better car. This story of the rally is here. A man with years out of the rally car, comes and produces a win is something to applause. The battle between those two will continue in the course of the championship.
Elie Nehme clinched a 1.6L category win after 10 years away from the sport. Elie was driving alone in the category but was more a practice for him to get back into shape.
