A perfect comeback to the rally were he had his horrible accident, and a perfect result to erase the disappointment of Arsoun Hill Climb. Find out what he had to say after his Group N win.
You lead the Group N category after Abdo Feghali’s retirement, did you control the pace of the race from then on or you kept pushing?
No no, we didn’t push. We finished the first stage before Abdo because we’re number 04, he’s number 05.
I went off the road during SS1, hitting a rock in the process, which broke my rear rim and my “traverse”; this was next to NDU, around 4km away from the start.
Did you change your tyre?
No, I didn’t. It wasn’t the tyre, it was the rim, it got bent. I continued on the same rim throughout SS1 and SS2. I beat Chafic in SS2 after Abdo’s retirement.
I was afraid of not being able to push in Ain Trez, therefore lose time to Chafic, but I took it easy after realizing I had a comfortable gap.
How was your performance today compared to the one in Arsoun Hill Climb?
We had a problem with the car during the Hill Climb which nobody knew about except for me, Tony and my team manager. We were happy the problem was discovered at the Hill Climb, not today, or else it would’ve been a real surprise. The problem was hidden, I felt it throughout the Hill Climb; Tony couldn’t pinpoint it because he wasn’t with me in the car, but we eventually fixed it after the Hill Climb.
How does the Championship look after today’s category win?
It all depends on Abdo in Rally of Lebanon because Abdo may be driving a S2000 car.
I still have two local rallies and two hill climbs.
The two best hill climbs of three are taken for the championship, so we’re still safe in that area. I need to win the upcomning Hill Climbs, while staying behind Abdo as much as possible in the Rallies.
Abdo is a very fast driver, there’s no way you can beat him, unless you practice a lot and have a fast car.
He is 10 years more experienced than I am, so it’s impossible for me to beat him.
How did you find yourself with Joseph Today?
Very good. This rally means a lot to us.
How did you manage in Ain Trez, the place of your hard accident?
We were quite sad in Ain Trez due to the broken traverse. I lifted a bit, on the corner where we had our incident in SS2. The speeds are up to 200km/h in that stage, it’s no joke. I managed to better my SS2 time in SS4 though. We were around 30 seconds faster than Chafic, so why take risks? We played it safe.
