Rally Of Lebanon 2010 - SS6 (Roger Feghali Flying)
www.Biser3a.com Presents you with an exclusive 3 part interview with Lebanon’s Multiple Rally champion Roger Feghali. Roger doesn’t need any introduction since his numbers speak for themselves. 8 times Lebanese rally champion and 8 times Rally Of Lebanon champion in addition to numerous international, regional and locals titles.
In the first part we talked to Roger about this season (2011) in full details. His team, Rival teams, his scheduled rallies and much more.
The second part which will feature on the 29th of April, Roger will tell us about the history of his team (MotorTune), and the developement process as well as how did MotorTune become the one of the leaders in the Middle East, in addition to many future plans.
The third part will feature on the 30th of April and will be a career oriented interview. We asked Roger about how he started 15 years ago, how things evolved, future plans and we got some hints about his favorite drivers in F1 and rallying.
PART I
Roger, tell us about the Spring Rally this year. The first rally of the season with a new Co-driver and a new car, you dominated a relatively short distance rally, although everybody was well prepared. How do you explain this matter?
To start with, let’s divide this answer into different parts. I have driven with Joseph Matar in last year’s Cyprus rally (Roger and Joseph finished 2nd overall). It was our first official rally together although we have sat together a lot before. We have trained together; we drove together as the 0 car twice in 2008 local Jordan rallies. Joseph knows me very well and I do know him very well too. It’s nice that we won together for the first time in Lebanon. He won previously with big names, and with former Lebanese champions. He is the most experienced co-driver in Lebanon and is very professional in his work.
Spring Rally 2011 - SS1 (Roger Feghali and Joseph Matar)
-How did you find yourself with him in the car?-
As I told you I know Joseph very well. He is with me in MotorTune and he helps us a lot. He is with us on all fronts, and he is also my friend. Nothing new, Joseph is marvelous and very pro. He was alongside Nick through MotorTune from 2007, so he probably spent 4 years with Nick. He knows MotorTune very well, so when he is not present as a co-driver he is present as a team member in all rallies. When we go to Jordan or to Syria or to any rally outside, Joseph is always with us. He is a MotorTune member, so it’s amazing to win together.
Second, yes everybody is prepared; the roads were new to everyone. One week before the rally we were in Kuwait, so nobody visited the road. They gave us 24 hours ahead of the rally to practice and I believe they were enough. We ran every stage 6 or 7 times, more than that, it would have been too much. As you know we are given only 2 runs in all international rallies we do, which are enough. I guess they gave us a lot of time, and I hope they make them shorter next time. It’s OK. It’s a local championship and it is nice to be in full attack from the beginning.
All the contestants were taking it very seriously. Everybody was well prepared and it was wonderful.
Regarding the gap, in some places it was normal but in others it was big. The stages were short. Five minutes and four minute stages are short, so what kind of a difference can you create. You can say that it’s a 10 km Stage, but you are completing it in 4 minutes. Ok we created a bit of a gap and it was good.
-Did you expect this gap?-
I guess it’s more than what it should have been. It should have been a bit less. Take Nick who finished second for example, we sat after the rally and analyzed it, and his performance and we did the briefing and everything, so he knows where to improve himself now. Nicolas Amiouni had a problem in the first stage so he wasted a lot of time. His first stage was still amazing though. He did an amazing time, since the problem happened nearly at the end of the stage, but in the second stage he lost 50 seconds or one minute. Nicolas also knows where he can improve.
-How did you find his comeback?-
His performance over the course of the rally was amazing. His target this year was to start where he finished last year, which was the Rally Of Lebanon. He started in a very good way, but I guess he took a little more risk than he should have in the first stage. But it’s OK, his overall performance was excellent. Everybody started saying that he was over the limit and so on. I can’t understand what they mean by “over”. He did take some risks but don’t forget the rally was like a hill climb so he was forced to do this. He has to push. He doesn’t know the difference between him and Nick and Tamer and all the guys, so of course he was under some pressure. Everybody was under pressure, and one mistake would throw you out. Look at his performance in the 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th stages, his level was very high. He has scored the 2nd best in 3 out of the four stages we mentioned.
Spring Rally 2011 SS1 (Roger Feghali Jumping)
How do you assess the overall performance of your team members including you, Tamer, Nick and Chafic?
For me the result was not bad. I have spent around 5 to 6 months without driving since the Cyprus rally. I can give a higher level – I should push more and during the year I will raise the performance.
Moving to my teammates, Nick and Nicolas have top spec cars. They have everything in their car. Tamer Ghandour lacks a couple of things in his car although the car is very good. The car lacks in the area of the gearbox, which affected his performance a little. Anyway he decided to participate in the rally at the last second and there were problems with sponsors. He was struggling, so he wasn’t focused a lot on the rally. We found his performance to be excellent. For me it was an amazing performance. He finished fourth and missed on the podium with only 3 or 4 seconds.
Regarding Chafic we shouldn’t forget that he is driving an EVO 7. It is his first time with his new co-driver, George, but they are both working very well. He is improving step by step and the next rally will also be a big push for him. As we said, we shouldn’t expect much of the EVO 7, but Chafic should be able to extract the best out of it this year so next year he should be able to drive a better car.
Spring Rally 2011 - SS4
How do you assess the performance of rival drivers such as Gilbert Bannout, Sysley, Mansour Zacca, Joseph Hindy and Eddy Bou Karam?
Gilbert finished on the podium, and he was competing with Tamer where he finished the last stage with a couple of seconds a drift. As for Sysley, don’t forget that he was driving his first ever rally so it’s not easy, but you can expect from him much more in the coming rallies. Mansour was driving an EVO 6 so this is the best you can expect from this car. The EVO 6 is an old car and it’s not easy to compete with the new cars. Joseph Hindy should have done a little bit better but still, it’s his first rally of the season, and in the next rally we can see a much faster Joseph. He is very good, and I know him, he drivers very good too. Eddy Bou Karam completed his first ever rally. This is his second ever rally participation. The Rally Of Lebanon was his first rally were he competed in a couple of stages beofer he retired. They all have top spec cars but the drives will always do all the difference in the world. I guess rally by rally all drivers will be improving. There is no reason to say that we have better cars or better drivers, but on the contrary. This is not a diplomatic answer, I don’t care, and I’m saying what I see.
We heard a lot about the issue of the rims on Mansour Zacca’s car, so did you really file a complaint and does this rim irregularity give a difference?
Spring Rally 2011 - SS1
A simple answer, if we filed a complaint, Mansour would have been disqualified. There are many areas to protest in Mansour’s car other than the 18’’ rims but we didn’t protest. There is no need to create a big fuss about it.
How do you assess the results of your rival teams such as TG Rally Skills and Kazan Performance tuning in the Spring Rally?
Don’t forget that the driver makes the difference. I’m not saying that Tony Germany doesn’t have drivers or Philip Kazan doesn’t have drivers, but on the contrary, all drivers are fast and very good. Still the driver makes the difference. I’m sure their cars were very well prepared and on their Maximum and you can see this through videos, and everybody was very good. Everybody is doing his job.
Last year you participated in the local Jordan rally championship and won it. What about this year, will there be any participation in Jordan?
The problem is that I would love to do many international rallies that are more important than local rallies. You would come and tell me, why am I participating in the Spring rally and the Cedar rally then. The answer would be that I am finding sponsors for these rallies, so I participate. If I find a sponsor to do the Portugal rally or the Australian rally, I would do them too. The local events don’t need huge budgets so I am finding the right sponsors to participate. This year there will be participation in Jordan. The first local rally has been delayed to next month. I didn’t finalize my decision whether to take part or not, but there is time to think.
1st Local Rally Jordan 2010
We are witnessing many Lebanese drivers with big sponsoring in international single seater events abroad. We don’t see the same happening with you, although you have big accomplishments wherever you go and your are very well established. Is this matter related strictly to rallying or to Roger Feghali as a person?
I don’t think it’s something to do with Roger Feghali as a person, but it has to do with inadequate marketing of rallies in Lebanon and not even in the Middle East. If you look at drivers with big sponsors, you can see that it’s because there are countries behind them. Take Nasser Al Attiyah, Khalid Al Qassimi and Fazza Rally Team, they all have state sponsoring. There are no products behind them. I believe that this is the only problem and nothing more.
I hope one day things become better. I personally can’t think about it a lot. I am not at the end of my career literally, but the years that I should have been participating regularly outside has passed. Maybe in a younger age a driver can perform better. I will always keep trying. If today I find a sponsor, I will go back to doing a world championship.
Rally Of Lebanon 2010 - SS5
We will get back to the career issue in the third part of this interview but to stay in 2011, we have upcoming events with the Cedars rally and the ROL, Will there be a car change?
We are facing big problems and especially myself, that we are not driving much throughout the year. And to continue our previous discussion, I’m competing in small rallies to stay well prepared. If you wait all year, for the ROL, without driving, you will reach it unprepared. Those local events are keeping me fit and prepared.
Last year I had the Skoda, and we had to complete the program that we planned, and thank god we got some amazing results, both in Lebanon and Jordan. This year I have decided to be on the EVO 10. We now have the R4 kit coming soon. If we manage to prepare ahead of the Cedars rally it will be good. If not we have a big gap until the ROL, so we can prepare. We will have a lot of testing in the summer, and a lot of work, as well as comparing times. These will help us decide if we change the car in ROL or not. I seriously don’t think so, since my budget is defined, so I prefer to stick to my plan and compete on the EVO 10.)
Spring Rally 2011 - SS1
-Do the R4 kits compete with s2000 cars?-
The target of R4 kits is to decrease the gap between S2000 cars and group N cars. So let’s say the S2000 cars are 2 seconds per Km faster than group Ns in Europe, the R4 kits will reduce the gap to 1 second. I believe that you will not see an R4 car beating an S2000 car in Europe. In Lebanon we have a little advantage because we know the roads and the track, but other drivers have done the rally more than 10 times too, so things we will be very close. I certainly believe that the gap in Lebanon will be smaller than it is in Europe. The S2000 cars will certainly have the edge but through a lot of car development we can be very close.
Are you planning a participation in the Cyprus rally?
The Cyprus rally is very good. I have big experience in it and I have participated in it 3 times. We are scoring good results there and if we got the chance to participate this year I will be happy to do so, and make sure to do my best.
-So this year’s program is; Spring rally, Cedars rally ROL, Jordan (not sure), IRC Cyprus?-
In Jordan I will be doing 2 or 3 rallies and if we have the right budget for IRC Cyprus we will be there too.
Cyprus Rally 2011 - Water Splash (Roger and Joseph finished 2nd overall)
to be continued …
Photos used in the Interview are the property of the following parties:
