October 11, 2016 – Rodolphe Asmar turned from a rookie into a champion over the course of only two years. He snatched the MERC-2 championship title last Sunday in only his second season in motorsport to underline his natural talent which began to unfold in early 2015.
At the age of 19, Rodolphe made his motorsport debut with Kazan Performance Tuning at the opening round of the 2015 Lebanese Rally Championship – the Spring Rally – where he drove a Mitsubishi Evo VIII to a fine 4th place in Group N and 8th place overall.
In the second round of the 2015 Lebanese Rally Championship in Jezzine, he stole the spotlight with an outstanding performance to 3rd place in Group N and 7th overall in an Evo IX that he drove for the remainder of the season. Unfortunately, mechanical problems haunted Rodolphe in the Cedars Rally and Rally of Lebanon as he retired from both events. However, his pace was a sign of good things to come in the following season.
He also contested the full 2015 Lebanese Hill Climb Championship season as a way to hone his skills and further develop as a driver.
In 2016, Rodolphe took it up a notch by announcing that he will compete in the MERC-2/Group N category of the Middle East Rally Championship, alongside a second full season in the Lebanese Rally Championship and Lebanese Hill Climb Championship with Motortune Racing.
He enjoyed a highly successful campaign in Lebanon as he drove a Ford Fiesta R5 to 3rd place overall and 2nd place overall in Spring Rally and Jezzine Rally respectively. He retired from the Cedars Rally with a mechanical problem in his Mitsubishi Evo X, but returned stronger in the fourth and final round of the Lebanese Rally Championship and fourth and penultimate round of the Middle East Rally Championship – 39th Rally of Lebanon – to finish 2nd in Group N and 4th overall.
Rodolphe’s first major achievement in 2016 was securing the Lebanese Hill Climb Championship Group N title after finishing on the podium in all three rounds, including two class victories in the 2nd and 3rd rounds in Bkassine and Baabdat respectively.
In his regional campaign, Rodolphe pulled off some excellent performances throughout the year, starting off with 3rd place in Group N and 5th overall in the season opener in Qatar. In Kuwait, he finished 5th in Group N and 7th overall before scoring another podium in Jordan by claiming 3rd place in Group N and 7th place overall despite retiring from the first leg.
Rodolphe’s result in Rally of Lebanon helped him take the lead of the MERC-2 championship and he went into the final round of the season in Cyprus with a 7-point advantage over title rival Qatar’s Abdullah Al-Kuwari.
A sensational performance in the 3-day event in Cyprus saw him earn a Group N class victory to be crowned the inaugural MERC-2 champion and the youngest winner in the championship’s history. Not only that, but he is also ranked 2nd in the overall standings of the Middle East Rally Championship behind the great Nasser Al-Attiyah.
Rodolphe concluded only his second season in the world of motorsport with two championship titles, which is a testament to the young driver’s brilliance. There is no doubt that his best is yet to come.