45th Coral Rally of Lebanon Entry List: 31 Crews Led by Al-Attiyah and Feghali

Entries for the 45th Coral Rally of Lebanon, round four of the 2023 MERC, closed at 31 cars, headed by defending winner Nasser Al-Attiyah and 15-time winner Roger Feghali. Full entry list.

Khaled Karam · 2 min read
Official poster of the 45th Coral Rally of Lebanon, September 15–17, 2023
45th Coral Rally of Lebanon, 15–17 September 2023

The Automobile and Touring Club of Lebanon (ATCL) has announced the drivers, co-drivers and cars for the 45th Coral Rally of Lebanon, to be held on September 15, 16 and 17, 2023. Entries for the “icon” of Middle East rallies closed at 31 cars.

The event is the fourth round of the 2023 FIA Middle East Rally Championship, after the Qatar, Oman and Jordan rallies. It covers 634.43km, including 195.34km across 11 asphalt special stages in Keserwan, Jbeil, Batroun and the Metn.

The contenders

The entry is headed by Qatar’s Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah (last year’s winner and a two-time Rally of Lebanon champion) with co-driver Matthieu Baumel (Andorra), and Lebanon’s Roger Feghali (record 15-time winner) with Joseph Matar. They are joined by Oman’s Abdullah Al Rawahi and Jordanian co-driver Ata Al Hamoud, Kuwait’s Mshari Al-Thefiri with Qatari co-driver Nasser Al-Kuwari, Kuwait’s Yousef Al-Dhafeeri with Lebanese co-driver Carlos Hanna, and Jordan’s Shaker Jweihan with Lebanese co-driver Vicken Kanledjian.

Among the Lebanese, Bassel Abu Hamdan and Firas Elias, second last year, take part, along with Alex Feghali and Marc Haddad, 2022 Rally of Lebanon Group N winners, and Elias Dehni and Amine Akl, 2022 front-wheel-drive winners.

Two women drivers take part – Ria Dagher with co-driver Rana El Hayek, and Joanna Hassoun with co-driver Clara Janbar – while a third female co-driver, Dolyne Chlink, partners Charbel Chebli.

Entry list

  1. Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah (Qatar) / Matthieu Baumel (Andorra) – Volkswagen Polo GTI Rally2
  2. Roger Feghali / Joseph Matar – Volkswagen Polo GTI Rally2
  3. Abdullah Al Rawahi (Oman) / Ata Al Hamoud (Jordan) – Skoda Fabia R5 Rally2
  4. Alex Feghali / Marc Haddad (France) – Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 10
  5. Bassel Abu Hamdan / Firas Elias – Skoda Fabia Rally2
  6. Carl Rizk / Karim Abou Elias – Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9
  7. Rabih Ayoub / Georges Nader – Skoda Fabia Rally2
  8. Mshari Al-Thefiri (Kuwait) / Nasser Al-Kuwari (Qatar) – Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 10
  9. Chadi Fakieh / Samer Sfeir – Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 10
  10. Rodrigue Rahi / Rony Bou Abdo – Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 10
  11. Paul Ksaifi / Rawad Issa – Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 10
  12. Tarek Younis / Salim Jleilaty – Ford Fiesta R5 Rally2
  13. (No. 13 not used)
  14. David Mezher / Georges Deaibess – Citroën DS3
  15. Elias Dehni / Amine Akl – Citroën DS3
  16. Charbel Chebli / Dolyne Chlink – Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 8
  17. Ahmad Khaled / Joseph Kmeid – Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 10
  18. Shaker Jweihan (Jordan) / Vicken Kanledjian – Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 10
  19. Joseph Salem / Sami Awad – Peugeot 208
  20. Jason Wehbe / Andre Mhanna – Skoda Fabia R2
  21. Albert Hayek / Louay Sakr – Renault Clio
  22. Walid Schlink / Andre Achkouty – Renault Clio
  23. Yousef Al-Dhafeeri (Kuwait) / Carlos Hanna – Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 10
  24. Raafat Al Mohtar / Omar Mazkour – Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 10
  25. Tony Germanos / Elie Mhanna – Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9
  26. Nabil Kombaz / Karim Kombaz – Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9
  27. Rouwad El-Hachem / Gary Koundakjian – Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9
  28. Ria Dagher / Rana El Hayek – Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9
  29. Joanna Hassoun / Clara Janbar – Renault Clio
  30. Nidal Al Jurdi / Serge Akiki – Renault Clio
  31. Sami Daou / Wissam Daou – Peugeot 206
  32. George Chehwan / Christopher Kanledjian – Suzuki Swift

Scrutineering and administrative checks begin on Thursday afternoon at the ATCL in Kaslik.