December 2, 2016 – The provisional 2016 Lebanese Rally Championship standings that were published by the ATCL have confirmed that Joseph Kmeid is indeed the 2016 Lebanese Rally Co-Drivers’ Champion.
Kmeid enjoyed a dream season alongside Eddy Abou Karam, with whom he had raced since 2014. The pair had a rough start to the season in Spring Rally where they suffered from a mechanical problem that hampered their progress and saw them finish 6th in Group N and 13th overall.
However, Joseph and Eddy bounced back in Jezzine Rally by claiming 2nd place in Group N and 4th overall. This was followed by another outstanding drive in the Cedars Rally where they snatched 2nd place in Group N and 3rd place overall.
At the final round of the season, Rally of Lebanon, Joseph and Eddy battled a broken driveshaft in the first leg and had to nurse the car home, which was enough for them to win the Lebanese Rally Championship Group N title. They fought hard in the second leg to reach the finish line ranked 1st in Group N and 3rd overall, therefore helping Joseph top the Co-Drivers Championship.
“I would live to give credit to Eddy Abou Karam for this wonderful season, in which he won the Group N title and finished 2nd overall. I would also like to extend my gratitude to Tony Germany who has accompanied me since 2004. Also, a major thanks to the whole TGRS team.” said Joseph.
He added: “This success wouldn’t have been attainable without the support of our technical partners LR Engineering and Sigma ME, our sponsors Silver Star, Tire Mania, Würth and Danyz Diner, in addition to our media partners Biser3a.com and The Action Crew.”
It is worth mentioning that this is Joseph Kmeid’s first ever title. His previous best was 3rd overall in 2005, 2009 and 2014.
