Nicolas Amiouni took a shocking victory at the 37th Rally of Lebanon, round four of the FIA Middle East Rally Championship, which ended on Sunday afternoon after four days of pure excitement and drama.
The Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X driver and co-driver Chadi Beyrouthy completed the rally in 2 hours 39 minutes 43.4 seconds, 1min 26.2sec ahead of fellow Lebanese Rodrigue Rahi, to secure their first ever MERC win. Qatar’s Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari finished third in the Ford Fiesta RRC.
10-times Lebanese Rally Champion and 11-times event winner Roger Feghali crashed on Friday’s opening stage and his brother Abdo also had an accident after his Mitsubishi’s brakes failed, while Eddy Abou Karam, who shortly lead after the Feghali brothers retired, suffered from a series of punctures and mechanical issues, which paved the way for Amiouni to secure his first ever win.
Citroen DS3 R3 driver Bassel Abou Hamdan and co-driver Firas Elias secured the front-wheel drive class victory after a great battle with Henry Massaad and Robert Aaraj, who both failed to finish.
Majed Khoury (Skoda Fabia R2) was unchallenged in the front-wheel drive R2 class and took an easy win as rival Naji Stephan (Peugeot 208 R2) failed to take the start of the rally and had a troubled race under Super Rally.