September 3, 2016 – Abdo Feghali has dominated the first leg of the 39th Rally of Lebanon, winning all 6 special stages in the Skoda Fabia R5 on Saturday to finish 1 minute 20 seconds clear of Nasser Al-Attiyah and assert control over the rally.
Al-Attiyah (Fabia R5) completed the day in 2nd place overall, benefiting from a retirement for Roger Feghali (Mitsubishi Evo X R4), who faced mechanical issues in the fourth special stage that was halted due to a heavy crash for Gilbert Bannout (Ford Fiesta R5). Fortunately, Bannout and his co-driver Sabine De Castelli survived the accident.
Other retirements include Robert Aaraj (Renault Clio R3), Majed Khoury (Skoda Fabia R2), Nidal Jurdi (Renault Clio RS) and Nadim Halabi (Evo VIII) – all caused by different mechanical problems. Moreover, Qatari drivers Abdulla Al Kuwari (Evo X) and Khalid Al Suwaidi (Fiesta R5) were involved in separate accidents which put them out of the rally.
Tamer Ghandour is 3rd overall following a trouble-free day and a highly consistent performance in the Evo X R4.
Rodrigue Rahi (Evo IX) holds a comfortable lead in Group N ahead of Eddy Abou Karam, while Bassel Abou Hamdan (Citroen DS3 R3) leads in RC3 but has Henry Massaad (Clio R3T) 24 seconds behind him.
Provisional top 10 after SS7 – Leg 1 (Full results here):
| Rank | Nb | Driver | Time/Gap | |
| 1 | 4 | Abdo Feghali | 1:19.09.1 | |
| 2 | 1 | Nasser Al Attiyah | +1:21.2 | |
| 3 | 5 | Tamer Ghandour | +4:29.8 | |
| 4 | 6 | Rodrigue Rahi | +7:19.8 | |
| 5 | 12 | Bassel Abou Hamdan | +9:14.5 | |
| 6 | 8 | Eddy Abou Karam | +9:15.4 | |
| 7 | 16 | Henry Massaad | +9:38.7 | |
| 8 | 9 | Rodolphe Asmar | +9:39.3 | |
| 9 | 14 | Rony Kanaan | +11:37.5 | |
| 10 | 11 | Rabih Ayoub | +21:41.3 | |
