July 8, 2015 – For the first time in the Lebanese Rally Championship and during the third round of the 2015 season, a driver had his own daughter alongside him as a co-driver.
Walid Chlink chose to seat his 18-year-old daughter Dolyne right next to him in the Renault Clio R3 for the 24th Cedars’ Rally, and it proved to be a good partnership as the pair managed to successfully cross the finish line on Sunday afternoon.
Dolyne navigated her father through all 12 special stages of the rally, which covered 97 kilometers of the total 345-kilometer distance, therefore earning the Rookie co-driver cup.
It isn’t the first time we see a father/daughter rally crew on a global level; Dutch rally driver Jan van der Marel used to team up with his daughter Nancy in the Dutch Rally Championship and European Rally Championship in the mid- to late 1990s.
Dolyne will continue to support her father this season and her upcoming challenge will be the 38th Rally of Lebanon, the longest and toughest round of the season, in which she will hopefully stack up more kilometers.