Usually you would be expecting a Rally analysis by Tuesday or Wednesday but this time we came a bit late for a reason. The Rally finished on Sunday and we kept on hearing all types of bullshit regarding organization and driver performances in addition to many other issues. So more feedback won’t do any harm. Here we go…
Nothing is perfect in life. Nothing is perfect in Motorsports either, and the same is also applicable goes on Rallying in Lebanon. In life, you cannot make everybody happy, so by default after the end of the Cedars rally many people were happy, while others were simply not. But the biggest problem lies in those who talk for the sake of talking. Here you will have it all so drive with us.
Organization and the new stages
The new stages were technically very challenging to say the least. The 2nd stage in Bhabouch has a lot of Variety and the last few meters of the stage can easily cost you the Rally especially with all that gravel dispersed all over the place. Luckily all of our drivers managed to deal with it.
The second stage also saw a lot of straights and high top speeds, very similar to those at the beginning of the third stage located in Mazraat Al Touffah. (Check Video Below)
The straights in third stage were followed by a series of challenging corners and tight driving, to end the Rally on a very loose surface full of gravel sand and whatever non-grippy factors you can get on a tarmac based rally. (Check both Videos Below)
We got general feedback from the drivers that the stages were nice and challenging but as Roger Feghali said in his interview (click here for Roger Feghali interview and Photo Album) with us, the stages were short and we still demand longer ones. We need at least one benchmark stage similar to Kefrayya in the Rally of Lebanon. It’s not easy and we know it, but we should keep on trying to have one.
The stages were great and everything but this is not the whole story. The ATCL marshals had a very difficult time dealing with the local residents in the villages, mostly in SS3 in Mazraat Al Touffah, where we witnessed a lot of public vehicles cutting into the closed stage. The marshals honestly did their best. I personally was present on P3 in SS9 and I saw how one of the marshals was threatened and mistreated, but he kept his composure. This was probably not the case with all the others but we should give these people some credit because it was a very challenging day starting from early Sunday morning.
One of the other noticeable points in the rally is the increased number of spectators over the course of the whole day. The fact that the entire rally was running in daylight made us, and everybody else, more motivated to cover, watch and enjoy.
The Competition
At the beginning of the rally, we couldn’t find one sane man voting against Roger Feghali winning the rally, and we all know the result by now, but Roger’s target was most probably winning and testing the car Ahead of the rally of Lebanon in September. It was probably a success (Check the interview).
The battle for the Group N was also a matter that was clinched early on and Abdo Feghali stormed to the win with some spectacular driving and drift and gave the fans their treat.
Nicolas Amiouni came third after Abdo’s second place and although he challenged Abdo early on Nicolas seemed to drift a bit away in the later stages. Nevertheless his continued improvement on his car was a bit of a mark to point out. Joseph Hindy finished 4th on his best rally finish this season.
He had a composed drive and benefited from the misfortune of teammate Gilbert Bannout who lost his 5th gear and got stuck with the problem the whole Rally, finishing 5th. Sixth came Garo Haroutiounian with a smooth and a very improved drive. Garo kept improving his pace throughout the rally and finished his first ever rally after retiring in the summer rally. Chafic Boulos finished 7th after suffering from loads of suspension problems.
The front wheel drive battle went again and not surprisingly to Ghassan Khoury and was followed by Bassel Abou Hamdan who beat Robert Aaraj on his Clio R3 Maxi by only 3 seconds. The 1600 Battle was once again clinched by Ziad Karanouh who continues to gain championship points and looks good for the win.
The rally saw the retirement of the following cars:
Hisham AL ABIAD in SS2
Danny ABOU CHAKRA in SS4
Rabih AYOUB in SS6
Bechar BECHIR after SS6
Faddy HAMMADEH in SS8
Eddy ABOU KARAM in SS8
After the Cedars rally was concluded all eyes are now set on the Rally of Lebanon which will take place between the 7th and the 9th of September. We are anticipating the participation of over 5 S2000 or RRC cars and plenty of battles in all categories.
To check the photos of all drivers please click here.