March 7, 2015 – The 2015 Lebanese motorsport season kicked off today with the first round of the Lebanese Karting Championship that was held at the Pit Stop circuit in Zouk.
In the fastest DD2 category, it was Samer Mattar who prevailed in the end, beating Patrick Njeim and Abdo Feghali after qualifying on pole and winning both the pre-final and final races.
“I was very comfortable and at ease in the DD2 kart, especially in today’s track conditions. I was managing my pace throughout the race and, to be honest, it wasn’t a very hard race.” said Samer, “I’m very happy with the show that we’ve put on today. I’m not here to just to win, I want to put on a good show.” he added.
> 2015 Lebanese Karting Championship, Round 1, Senior Max
Patrick Njeim settled for second place ahead of Abdo Feghali who successfully fended off fourth-place finisher Sari Abou Rahal, with both drivers gaining one position as they overtook Ralph Matta who started third and finished fifth.
“It was a very fun day. I qualified second, which is actually quite good. Dado and Sari overtook me in the pre-final race, which is fine, it’s part of racing. Then, unfortunately, they both had an accident due to a malfunction in the tyres with Sari, so I managed to grab second place. In the final race, I managed to keep second place after the start, and then I tried to stay behind Samer and get a slipstream, but it didn’t really work out, so I just tried to keep my own my pace and it worked out for me. I’m happy with the result.” said Patrick.
> 2015 Lebanese Karting Championship, Round 1, Junior Max
Lebanese rally champion Abdo Feghali was satisfied with his result despite facing some difficulties. He said: “I had a carburator problem in qualifying and in the pre-final race, but we were able to fix it and finish third in the final race. It was amazing. I finished ahead of Sari, who won races last year, and I kept up with Patrick and Samer. We will be using the new “evolution” engine in upcoming races, which I’m personally used to, so hopefully I’ll be able to surprise.”
DD2 final race results
1. Samer Mattar 22 laps
2. Patrick Njeim +6.4 sec
3. Abdo Feghali +9.0 sec
4. Sari Abou Rahal +12.0 sec
5. Ralph Matta +40.6 sec