August 12, 2016 – His life revolves around cars; he owns Tony Helou Spare Parts, a shop located in Ain El Remmene that specializes in Mitsubishi Evo and Subaru STI car parts, and in his free time, he races Mitsubishi Evos in three local championships. We’re talking about Tony Helou, with whom we’ve sat recently in order to discuss his first ever season in motorsport and his plan for the future.
Q: This has been your first ever season in the Lebanese motorsport scene. What made you take the decision to join?
A: First of all, motorsport is a thing I’ve enjoyed since I was a kid and I never had the chance to do it at a young age, but working in the automotive field and owning a spare parts shop, Tony Helou Spare Parts, has helped me get into motorsport and build a race car. I have now built 3 race cars.
Q: You are competing in three championships at the same time: Lebanese Rally Championship, Lebanese Hill Climb Championship and Lebanese Speed Test Championship? Why the aggressive approach? It’s a big step for a beginner.
A: You can’t gain experience from just one discipline. The Speed Test championship is a way to prepare yourself for Hill Climb racing, and the Hill Climb championship is a school for the Rally championship. I need to compete in all three because I don’t have the time to test, I just go into every event with no practice. I sometimes change parts on the car and I don’t even get to test them. So basically, I’m competing in all three championship in order to compensate for the lack of testing, and gain more experience behind the wheel.
Q: Why did you choose to compete in a Mitsubishi Evo instead of something from a lower category that would help you better adapt to a racing car?
A: I drive the Mitsubishi Evo because at Tony Helou Spare Parts, we sell Mitsubishi Evo and Subaru STI parts, so it wouldn’t be right to drive a car that needs spare parts from a different shop, so driving the Evo is a good way to promote Tony Helou Spare Parts.
Q: What has been the toughest race for you this season?
A: To be honest, the toughest event for me was the Spring Rally because it was my first event this year. It was my first ATCL championship event and it had a lot of professional competitors. It was also very tough because it was a Rally event, which are always the hardest as they are the longest and require endurance.
Q: Is there anyone helping you progress in terms of driving, and where do you think you can improve?
A: No, nobody’s helping me out in terms of driving. I observe other drivers and compare myself to them, that’s how I try to progress. There are a lot of professional drivers who have worked hard on their cars and their skills, so that’s who I usually compare myself to. The only area in which I think I can improve is testing; that’s my only problem at the moment as I don’t have the time.
Q: You missed the Cedars Rally. Why, and are you planning to contend Rally of Lebanon?
A: I skipped the Cedars Rally in order to better prepare myself financially for Rally of Lebanon, which I hope to contend. Rally of Lebanon is a very difficult and expensive event, so it requires a lot of effort and it was impossible for me to compete in both the Cedars Rally and Rally of Lebanon, which is why I eventually sacrificed Cedars Rally. Nothing is official at the moment; I have no sponsors, I’m receiving support from Ahmad Khaled and a few other people but there’s no main sponsor, so I’m gonna be working hard this month to try to get some sponsors, otherwise I’m gonna have to sponsor myself or miss the big event.
Q: What’s the next step for you? What are you planning for the upcoming season?
A: The next step is to work on the car and myself. My Group N Mitsubishi needs a lot of work in order to become competitive. It’s all about the budget; for example, I use normal fuel, while others use racing fuel, which makes a big difference, and my car is close to stock, there’s no dog box, no big brakes.
Q: What’s your target, in terms of results, for next season?
A: There are plenty of faster cars in the Lebanese Rally Championship, so we’re quite far and there’s a lot of work to do; I think it’s gonna take time to be able to challenge other drivers. In the Hill Climb and Speed Test championships, the aim is to get into the Top 10 and I think that’s possible once we improve the Prototype Evo; I think I’ve shown progress in the last Hill Climb in Baabdat, and that’s a big positive.
Q: Is there anybody you would like to thank?
A: Of course, I would like to thank Auto Khaled, Ghazi El Rayes, Lead Race Engineering, Christ Worldlife and Bassam Youssef for their immense support, and Tony Helou Spare Parts (laughs). Also, big thanks to you guys and all the media for the coverage. It’s been a long and tiring season.