Sunday April 3 saw the first 2011 4×4 event organized by ATCL. Pineland Hammana hosted the event that featured hundreds of spectators.
The race started around 10 AM in the morning with an installment lap and then was followed with a trial lap. The trial lap didn’t feature any significant results but the contestants were testing the track, their car’s performance, and the limits. Most of the drivers started with high jumps at the beginning of the circuit especially Rachid Naanai, Said Zacca and Wassim Sleiman. On the other hand Marc Chidiac lost his trial lap due to missing the road.
After the Trial lap the contestants started with the first of their 3 laps. From the beginning it was obvious that both Bassel El Masri and Raymond Saade were pushing harder than the rest. Their lap times were always circulating between 2:40 and 2:50 minutes. They were followed closely by Marc Chidiac who started cautiously on his first lap and then started to pick up pace gradually. All three drivers were on Jeep Cherokee. At the other end Sleiman Khattar was cautious over the course of the rally and was enjoying the day and preserving his car. Said Zacca had a similar policy and although he a small and unusual electric problem in his trial run he managed to finish the race in 8th position. Wassim Sleiman pushed a little and was having a more spectacular race with his high jumps in comparison with the other drivers and Rachid Naanai was pushing hard but the dimensions and geometry of his car didn’t really help his cause on a very twisty and narrow road. Sleiman was driving his usual Mercedes G Class and Rachid Naanai was on his Range Rover Classic. Zacca was driving a wrangler, the twin of last year’s car that crashed at last year’s final 4×4 event.
Georges Ziade Finished 4th on his Cherokee. Unlike other competitors Georges had a completely different engine under the hood of his car. The car was boosted with a V8 Ford Mustang engine, but he was driving it low ratios and not its full potential.
Marc Chidiac finished the race 3rd after impressive times in his last 2 runs. We have to mention that Marc was driving a Cherokee with much less horse power than his competitors.
Dory Hatem had a balanced and consistent run to fifth place on his Cherokee and although he was aiming for higher places he is satisfied with the result and the event in general.
First place went to Raymond Saade after an impressive fight with Bassel El Masri. Both drivers were on Cherokees and scored impressive times on all runs.
The difference between the first 4 drives was so narrow summing up to 3.5 seconds. The difference between Raymond and Bassel, first and second place respectively was only just under 1 second. Marc Chidiac finished 3rd 1 second away.
Sleiman Khattar won the Veteran’s cup.
The race ended at 3:30 PM with podium festivities and presenting the winners and participants with their rewards.
Most of the drivers were satisfied with the event and were looking for the upcoming events this year.
Race report by www.biser3a.com and www.lebanonoffroad.com
The full results:
1- Raymond Saade: 2,42,53
2- Bassel El Masri: 2,43,20
3- Marc Chidiac: 2,44,58
4- Georges Ziade: 2,45,88
5- Dory Hatem: 2,51,48
6- Rachid Naanai: 2,53,15
7- Wassim Sleiman: 2,55,22
8- Said Zacca: 3,01,55
9- Sleiman Khattar: 3,16,27