In the first speed test you had a mechanical problem in the primary run. How much did it affect your time and make a difference?
It made a big difference. We didn’t get to practice on the track and know it better. We had no idea for the track was dirty were it needed more traction and the characteristics of the track were somehow unknown to us. Anyway we didn’t expect this problem to happen. The differential broke and we didn’t bring a long ratio differential with us, we only brought a short ratio one and this affected our general speed in the last run.
Many drivers scored more points than you did in the first race. How much does this affect you speed test championship hopes?
We are not 100% pro. Nobody is. Only Roger and Abdo can be considered 100% pro. We are just here to enjoy the racing so it’s not a big problem.
There should get more backup from ATCL regarding the championship points. There should be 1 advantage race were we can have the chance to retrieve our lost points. Take Garo for example in the Hill Climb. He had a mechanical problem and this will affect him so bad in the championship although he has invested more than 120000 $ in his car. This is not fair.
The next speed test will be in Kfardebian this weekend. Do you think the track suits your car and driving more?[singlepic id=2467 w=320 h=240 float=right]
Well I consider the track there my home race. I’m more relaxed in driving on it, and I will do much better I hope. In the last speed test the track didn’t suit our cars very much. Our cars have more power and the track suited cars that have more stability on the ground, such as Elie Hage’s car that has both traction and pilot control and practically more stability. On the other hand the track became so dirty and this didn’t suit the slick tyre we had on our cars. We don’t have the budget to get different kinds of tyres and change them according to track conditions.
Are you planning any modifications or car changes for the future?
Well we have already changed the engine and upgraded it to 3.2L that produces 350 or 360 horse power. Our previous engine didn’t produce more than 280 horse power. This change didn’t suit us a lot in the first speed test but it will surely help in the coming event.
Moving to drifting, we see that this year is looking promising after your win, last time around. There are 7 qualifiers and things are looking exciting, what do you think about the competition and can you keep your crown?
I believe that the competition is still between me and Garo. Last year Garo had a problem and this led him not to finish. This year he is preparing his car very well and we will have a good competition.
The kind of drift that we are doing is not pure drift. It’s not high speed drift like it should be. I prefer to call it car control more than drift. What we are doing is controlling the car on very slow speeds. I can do slow speed car control but I don’t really enjoy compared to high speed drifts. I love to drift around big curves with high speeds and not only around small cones.
We have another problem which is that we cannot practice in Lebanon. Wherever we go to practice we get the cops trying to stop us. This is leading us to being cautious from the Arab contestants that are coming from the Gulf area, where there is many track and they are training on them.But we thank redbull and abdo feghali for giving us ths chance to have such a beautiful event and hope this year or someday we can move to highspeed drifts where we can do more tricks and better sliding,and spectators can enjoy it more.
The car looks have big effect on the points total in the drift events. Are you planning any major changes to the looks of your car?
We are not planning any changes. We cannot damage the looks of the M3 with spoilers and stuff like that, especially that this will make the car heavier. I will race in the same looks and livery I have now.
We are seeing you competing in speed tests and drifts. Why don’t you make the bigger step into other competition?
We had no media coverage and no sponsor, as simple as that. Now things may change because of the live coverage. I have raced before between 98 and 2000 and have invested more than 150000 $ from my pocket. Without good sponsoring you are not willing to invest huge amounts. It’s not logical, especially now that BMW’s are costing much more the Evo’s in terms of preparation.
We are limiting the participation to speed tests and drifts and we are running on low budget. ATCL should change the rules regarding speed tests for example where they should give fixed car regulations that gives the cars very similar characteristics and limit the budget put on them. This will help the competition, and this will show who is the good driver.
We know that you drive bikes in you daily life. Why don’t you practice it as a sport?