2:03 – Henry Massaad is the front-wheel drive class winner, followed by Rony Kanaan and Matthias Njeim in second and third respectively. Massaad was second in the category, but he fought back today to win 3 out of 4 stages and claim the R3 category win extending his lead in the championship.
2:00 – And it’s a locked throttle position with Patrick Njeim’s Evo 9.
1:58 – Patrick Njeim crosses the finish line but he seems to have a problem in the car and it is unknown whether he can make it to ATCL to win the Group N category and finish the rally.
1:56 – Stajf finished the rally smoothly with a very clean and fast performance leading him to 5th place overall!
1:54 – Eddy Abou Karam claims 4th place overall after a very difficult and challenging rally onboard his Hyundai R5.
1:48 – Nasser Al Attiyah completed the final stage, he finishes the rally in second place overall ahead of Rodolphe Asmar.
1:46 – Roger’s done it! He completed the 11th and final special stage in Kefraya and therefore wins the 2018 Rally of Lebanon, extending his record to 14 victories!
1:27 – We would like to thank our sponsor for the 41th Rally of Lebanon, Total.
1:04 – Around 15 minutes before the start of the final stage of the 2018 Rally of Lebanon in Kefraya.
12:30 – Unfortunately, Michel Slaiby seems to have retired from the competition after SS9 as he doesn’t make it through SS10
12:16 – Henry Massaad, fights, comes back and takes the R3 Category lead from Rony Kanaan by nearly 9 seconds after SS10!
12:14 – Patrick Njeim beats Rodrigue Rahi by 4 seconds in the Group N category.
12:11 – Stajf sandwiches Asmar and Abou Karam clocking 9 minutes 56.8 seconds with 4th fastest time of SS10.
12:08 – And the answer is no, Eddy comes 2.7 seconds slower than Asmar in SS10.
12:07 – Rodolphe Asmar finishes in 9 minutes 55.0 seconds. Can Abou Karam do better?
12:05 – Roger’s quickest again, nine special stage wins out of ten so far. He beats his previous morning time by nearly 15 seconds to come 4 seconds faster than Al Atiiyah in SS10.
10:46 – Next one coming up is Bzebdine 2 again, starting at 11:41. More results from SS9, Kefraya Here
10:41 – And the R3 Category is on fire as Massaad comes 26 seconds faster than Kanaan in SS9, Kefraya to close the overall gap to only 1.5 second.
10:39 – Patrick Njeim “We had some wrong pace notes”
10:38 – Rahi beats Njeim’s time by 5 seconds “We had absolutely no brakes in this stage”
10:37 – Stajf is 5 seconds faster than Asmar in SS9, clocking 3rd fastest time of the stage.
10:32 – Slaiby who lost around 50 seconds to the leaders seems to have had a spin in SS9. Stajf comes very close towards the end of the stage.
10:30 – Abou Karam, 19 seconds slower than Asmar in this one “We lost the brakes toward the end, and it was really difficult”
10:29 – Rodolphe Asmar does it in 17:44.34 “Not much to say but I’ll win”
10:25 – Nasser Al Attiyah comes 6 seconds faster than Feghali “I’m on the hard tires which is the best choice. I’m just enjoying the stages.”
10:24 -Roger Feghali clocking 17:21.99 “Last 8 Km were very slippery on those tires”
10:19 – SS9 just started, and here’s a random spectator shot for Feghali from the stage
10:00 – 5 minutes before the start of SS9. SS9 is taking place on a 27.90 km course in Kefraya.
9:11 – To mention that Massaad, is in the championship lead, so he won’t be looking forward into taking too much risk trying to catch Rony Kanaan. Click Here for more live times from SS8.
9:05 – In the R3 Cars, Kanaan continues his good momentum as he goes 4 seconds faster than Massaad.
08:55 – Group N cars begin to reach the finish line of SS8 as Rodrigue Rahi goes 2 seconds faster than Patrick Njeim.
08:52 – Nasser “It will be hard to catch Roger, the goal is to finish with a good result.”
08:49 – And it’s a tight competition for the podium as expected! Slaiby goes 2 seconds faster than Asmar, but 7 seconds slower than Abou Karam, while Stajg comes 4 tenth of a second slower than Slaiby.
08:45 – And, the answer is Yes! Abou Karam does it in 10:08.6 which is the 3rd fastest time and 9 seconds faster than Asmar!
08:43 – Rodolphe has clocked 10 minutes 17.4 seconds. Will Abou Karam go faster?
08:41 – Nasser has just finished the stage in Bzebdine. He does it in 9 minutes 59.4 seconds. While Roger goes 5 seconds faster. Let’s wait and see how the other R5 cars compare!
08:21 – As mentioned yesterday, today consists of 2 stages repeated twice with no service in between. So it is surely, promising to be a challenging day holding lots of suprises. Here are the stage times:
08:20 – Good morning everyone, it’s the final day of Rally of Lebanon. Can Roger do it for the 14th time? We’ll find out later today.
Sunday, July 8, 2018 – Leg 2
4:42 – To mention that tomorrow’s leg 2 and final day of the rally consists of 2 stages repeated twice with no service in between. So it is surely, promising to be a challenging day holding lots of suprises.
4:38 – At the end of Day 2, Roger Feghali holds a comfortable lead over Al Attiyah in 2nd. An interesting battle may be coming up between 3rd, 4th and 5th places currently hold by Asmar, Abou Karam & Slaiby.
4:03 – Slaiby finishes the stage 2 tenth of a second ahead of Abou Karam and closes the gap to 2 seconds behind him in 5th place.
4:01 – Eddy Abou Karam clocks provisional 3rd fastest time in SS7 Sourat and closes the gap to 3rd placed Asmar as he beats him by nearly 1 minute 15 seconds on this stage
3:54 – Rodolphe Asmar seems to have a problem as Eddy Abou Karam caught him on the stage. In the meanwhile Roger Feghali betters his previous time by 13 seconds, beating Al Attiyah by 24 seconds while it is reported that Al Attiyah did a small spin in the stage as well.
3:43 – The final stage of the day SS7 – Sourat 2 just started!
3:27 – Until now we have 3 cars out of the rally Ziad Feghali due to gearbox problems, Nassib Nassar due to a flat tire and Dupont due to a mechanical failure. With that, 24 cars remain running the 2018 Rally of Lebanon.
3:15 – Rodolphe Asmar had a flat tire in SS6, but still he holds on to 3rd Overall with a comfortable gap.
3:08 – In the overall standings after SS6, Feghali’s lead is now 46 seconds ahead of Al Attiyah. Rodolphe Asmar holds on to the 3rd podium spot with a comfortable gap over Abou Karam in 4th. As the battle for 4th between Slaiby and Abou Karam is on fire; A 2.2 seconds gap between the duo with just one more stage to go for the day!
3:00 – SS6 Ain Ayya is currently running. Feghali continues to extend his lead beating Al Atiyyah by 10 more seconds in here. Slaiby puts 3rd fastest time around 25 seconds behind Al Attiyah as Asmar & Abou Karam comes 9 & 11 seconds behind Slaiby respectively.
2:12 – In the R3 Category, Massaad comes back with a stage win, 2 seconds ahead of Kanaan. While Youngster Matthias Njeim puts the 3rd fastest time in the class for SS5 in his powerless Peugeot.
2:06 – Patrick Njeim continues to extend his lead scoring 8:34.1 while Rahi finishes the stage in 8:41.2
1:41 – Eddy Abou Karam completes the stage with 8:23.2 beating his current main rival Slaiby by nearly 10 seconds!
1:34– The action resumes with SS5 Monsef! Roger Feghali finished the stage in 7:59.1. Nasser AL Attiyah comes 6 seconds slower while Asmar makes it through just 1 second off Al Attiyah’s pace.
11:13 – We would like to take this opportunity to thank our sponsor for this rally, Total
11:12 – Drivers are now heading to the service zone for a 30 minutes service. Action will resume in the afternoon with SS5 – Monsef 2 at 13:21 PM
11:07 – Patrick Njeim holds a comfortable lead in the Group N while Rony Kanaan strikes and is provisionally leading the R3 Category. More Results here
11:06 – Abou Karam & Slaiby are a bit off the leaders’s pace but are now tied with only 11.1 seconds and the fight for 4th place seems to be ON fire for the afternoon loop!
11:04 – In the overall standings, after the morning loop, Feghali is in the lead 30.9 seconds ahead of Al Attiyah and 59.7 ahead of Asmar.
11:01 – Walid Chlink “I have no brakes, we had a very big moment. This is rallying, we have to stay cautious and focused”
10:55 – Henry Massaad reaches the finish line “I did a small spin in this stage and in the previous one as well, I don’t know how but it just happened!”
10:48 – It is reported that Nassib Nassar stopped on the stage for unknown reasons.
10:47 – Michel Slaiby, 1 second ahead of Abou Karam in SS4 “I have absolutely no brakes!”
10:45 – Stajg having brakes problems as well comes 7 seconds faster than Eddy Abou Karam.
10:43 – Abou Karam a minute off Roger’s timing “I have problems with my brakes as well, we lost our confidence, not being able to push for the moment.”
10:41 – Rodolphe comes a bit late 20 seconds off Roger’s timing “I overheated my tires and brakes. I’m not satistified with my driving but okay, we’re learning a lot”
10:28 – Roger Feghali comes 14 seconds faster. “Yes, the conditions are very slippery but it’s a good start for the rally and will push further more later.”
10:35 – Nasser Al Attiyah finished the stage in 16:26.07 “Really hard trying to catch the grip. I don’t know if I have a small puncture on my right tire.”
10:25 – SS4 Sourat has just started. Here’s a random spectator shot for Asmar from the stage.
10:04 – Meanwhile, today’s third special (SS4) is about to start. It is taking place on a 28.85-kilometer course in Sourat, the longest of today’s stages.
9:57 – The competition is ON in the R3 Category! Elie Nehme wins the stage scoring 13:32.86. Rony Kanaan comes in 13:36.49 while Abu Hamdan clocks a 13:41.13.
9:55 – More live times are coming from the stage. Click here
9:51 – In the overall standings, Roger leads, 16.1 seconds ahead of Nasser; Rodolphe Asmar is 3rd overall 25.2 seconds behind and Eddy Abou Karam in 4th place almost 1 minute off the lead.
9:47 – Patrick Njeim enlarges the gap in the Group N category, beating Rahi by 18 seconds as well in SS3.
9:41 – Slaiby completes the stage with 12:43.22, one tenth of a second behind Abou Karam!
9:39 – Stajg completes the stage a little bit late as well with 12:57.93.
9:36 – There appears to be a problem for Eddy Abou Karam who comes a bit late with 40 seconds behind Roger’s time.
9:34 – Asmar comes 10 seconds slower than Al Attiyah with 3rd provisional fastest time.
9:32 – Roger Feghali scores a 12:03.76. Is it another stage win for Feghali? Let’s see what Asmar, Stajg, Abou Karam & Slaiby are capable of doing.
9:31 -We have Nasser Al Attiyah’s time from SS3, he finished the stage 12:08.86. Let’s see what the other R5’s are doing!
9:24 – SS3 in Ain Ayya has just started. Waiting for Nasser’s time!
9:02 – All cars makes it safely through the first stage of the day and the next one coming is SS3, Ain Ayya 1 in around 15 minutes, stay tuned!
Photo Credits: Marinos Zighondi
8:42 – Bassel Abu Hamdan finishes the stage 10 seconds slower than Massaad but 6 seconds faster than Kanaan to set the 2nd fastest time in his category. For more live results Click here
8:34 – Rony Kanaan comes 16 seconds slower than Massaad in the DS3 as well, while Matthias Njeim sets an amazing time of 9:06.1 which is just slightly behind Kanaan but in a very much slower car!
8:32 – More Group N cars are arriving, but Patrick Njeim’s time is still to beat! Nassib Nassar & Ziad Feghali makes it in 8:44.0 & 8:55.1 respectively.
8:30 – Mshari Al Thafiri runs safely through the stages while R3 cars begin to reach the finish line with Henry Massaad clocking 8:50.5 onboard the Citroen DS3!
8:29 – More experienced in Group N & rallying, Rodrigue Rahi finishes the stage 3 seconds behind Njeim.
8:27 – The promising young Group N driver Patrick Njeim sets an excellent timing and shaves off 2 seconds from Stajg’s time after clocking 8 minutes 35.2 seconds.
8:23 – And the 5th R5 driver Michel Slaiby makes it through the finishes line as well clocking the 5th fastest time 8:30.3
8:22 – Eddy Abou Karam finishes the stage in 8:21.0 as the Skoda R5 driver Stajf scores 8:36.5.
8:19 -The Young R5 driver, Asmar clocks 8:09.0 sandwiching Roger & Nasser and setting the provisional 2nd fastest time.
8:17 – Roger Feghali does it in 8:01.0, which is almost 10 seconds faster than Nasser’s time. Follow our live timing here.
8:14 – Nasser Al-Attiyah has completed the first special stage in 8 minutes 9.6 seconds. Let’s see how Roger Feghali compares to that time. Here’s a random spectator shot for Nasser from the stage:
Photo Credit: Marinos Zighondi
8:03 – The zero car just made through the finish line of SS2 – Monsef 1 and first car on the road Nasser Al Atityah is about to take the start!
7:54 – Crews are heading out of the service area and towards the first special stage (Monsef) as we type this. Yesterday’s Super Special Stage took place at Mtein and was won by Roger Feghali with Vojtech Stajf & Al Attiyah in 2nd and 3rd respectively. Click here for live results.
7:45 – Good morning everyone and welcome to our first day of live coverage from the 41th Rally of Lebanon. Today is when the real special stage action begins, with 6 specials scheduled to take place. Here is the stage times and road closing times.
Saturday, July 7, 2018 – Leg 1