Eleven-time Rally of Lebanon winner Roger Feghali began his 30th Spring Rally campaign this morning by taking the early lead after setting the fastest time on the opening 15.420-kilometer stage in Nahr Ibrahim. He was followed by Abdo Feghali, who was just 2.8 seconds slower, with Tamer Ghandour 30 seconds behind in third.
Bassel Abou Hamdan, one of the main competitors in the front-wheel drive category, went off track in his Citroen DS3 R3; he was therefore forced to retire from the rally.
Provisional overall standings after SS1:
Pos. Driver Time/Gap 01. Roger Feghali 09:49.1 02. Abdo Feghali +00:02.8 03. Tamer Ghandour +00:30.6 04. Nicolas Amiouni +00:32.1 05. Rodrigue Rahi +00:33.2 06. Rony Kanaan +00:33.7 07. Joe Kfoury +00:48.7 08. Rabih Ayoub +00:50.0 09. Matador +00:50.9 10. Eddy Abou Karam +01:01.8 11. Hicham Al Abiad +01:13.0 12. Robert Aaraj +01:13.7 13. Ziad Feghali +01:29.9 14. Emile Abou Karam +01:31.3 15. Nabil Abdelhak +01:33.6 16. Walid Chlink +01:50.4 17. Majed Khoury +01:52.8 18. Hovic Karakozian +02:29.3 19. Zakh +02:29.4 20. Bechara Bechir +02:35.7 21. Dani Abou Chakra +02:36.1 22. Tarek Jaber +02:49.9 23. Carl Chalhoub +03:08.3 24. Elie Nehme +03:28.0