They are in for fun and although they hold the same family names they are not relatives, but good friends. Joseph and Chady Nasr won the spring rally 1600cc category and although the sponsor backing is absent they are in the Cedars rally to enjoy the feeling and try to get the title at the end of the year. We met both driver and co-driver and had this thrilling conversation.
Biser3a: Ahead of every rally we see that you are facing financial difficulties, has anything change ahead of the Cedars Rally?
Joseph: until now nothing has changed at all. we already registered for the rally without sponsors and we are not sure if this will change in the coming we week. There is me and Chady and a group of our friends that are helping us.
Biser3a: in the Spring Rally you won the 1600cc category, what’s the target in the Cedars Rally?
Joseph: Well we didn’t expect winning in the Spring Rally because our car was no ready at all. In the Cedars our problem would be in the gear box especially that it’s a normal road car gearbox with high ratios so it would cost us a lot in the Cedar’s stages. Both Kamal Dargham and Ziad Karanouh have better cars.
Biser3a: do you think that you won the spring rally because the competition was not that big in the presence of only one car after Ziad was disqualified?
Chady: I don’t believe that the win came because we had no competition and this doesn’t decrease its value. Although Ziad didn’t finish the rally, Kamal still competed with us and Kamal has a lot more experience than we do. The fact that the rally was new to everyone really helped us a lot and the nature of the rally suited our car.
Joseph: our car really loses time on the hairpins so this was not the case in the Spring Rally. We want to enhance the car ahead of the Cedars rally but w couldn’t find the sponsor.
What do you think about 1600cc category? Isn’t it better for rookies to start driving such cars before moving to the EVOs?
Jospeh: yeah this is absolutely true. We are seeing young guys with big budgets starting directly on EVO 9s and EVO 10s, and they are struggling in the beginning. The 1600 cc cars have very low costs compared with EVOs and the S2000 and the will help the new guys to learn on them easily. Here the club (ATCL) should encourage the ne talents to drive such cars in the beginning and not jump directly into the bigger categories.
We know that you are guys that participate in rallies because you love the sport and you do it for fun. What can you say about the entrance fees that ATCL are putting?
Joseph: First of all we appreciate all the hard work they are doing and the excellent Job they are doing too. It’s amazing, but for people like us the costs are so high so we would have wished that they helped us a little in terms of the entrance fees. Now the cost has risen because of the official test day which is a very good idea anyway, but we don’t have the budget to test.
Do you the club should put a hierarchy in terms of entrance fees were the lower categories would pay a smaller entrance fee than the others?
Chady: I guess this would be a good idea, since the small cars have a small probability to be sponsored than the bigger cars, and the budget of the guys participating on them is smaller too. Even though you win your category the sponsor would tell you that you won the rally he would tell you that you are 14th or 15th overall so his backing would be much less. The club should put a quota that organizes all this.
Joseph: we are witnessing something very dangerous in rallies this year. Okay, we are happy that we see 20 EVOs or 20 4wd turbos in the rally, but these are people investing from their own money and we don’t know how much can they continue. I am scared that we might face the same problem we had 10 years ago when we used to see 10 or 12 cars on the start of a rally.
Biser3a: What does it take for you guys to be with a garage and a big team like the other drivers?
Joseph: this need big support and a huge budget, which simple I not available now.
Biser3a: Chadi, how did start co-driving and where did you get this Idea from?
Chadi: well I’m like many people who love motorsport. I didn’t have the finances to go rallying because it is a costly sport and even sponsors won’t support you before you prove yourself for a while first. Anyway many things distracted me from doing my dream but eventually you will get the chance to rally even if it is only once or twice, it will still be a good opportunity. I would like to thank Joseph for giving this chance to rally with him and learn with him. We started from 0 together and we are improving and learning. Last year we had a very humble participation in ROL, we had many mistakes but we learned a lot and we improved in the spring rally. I have decided to remain ad a co-driver and I have great responsibilities to improve.
Biser3a: Where do see yourself as a co-driver in the future?
Chadi: I wish we both find the right budget to continue together. We started together and we know each other so I wish we can continue together. I hope we continue to enjoy it together. Everybody would love to be on a higher level, but I need to work a lot on myself to improve and have the experience.
Biser3a: Joseph we know that you are a big fan of motorsports and rallies. We see that you follow all rallies in the region and practically try not to skip one[singlepic id=927 w=320 h=240 float=right] event. How do you see the 2011 season in Lebanon?
Joseph: I believe that it is one of the best. We didn’t see this high level from a long time ago. The competition is fierce on 2nd place. Roger is far away and I guess nobody can compete with him at all.
Biser3a: What does it take to beat Roger Feghali?
Joseph: well now nobody can seriously beat him. There are many talented drivers but no one can beat him.
Chady: well I guess many people can try to beat Roger, but to really succeed you should give this sport as much Roger does in his daily life. The man lives his life for this sport.
Biser3a: Guys who do you think is the bet co-driver in Lebanon?
Joseph interrupts Chadi and answers; I guess Ziad Chehab is the best in Lebanon. He is a very nice guy and a personal friend and he is the number one.
Chady: I really benefit from Ziad. He helps you a lot and he answered even the most stupid questions without any problem. He is phenomenal. Joseph has participated a couple of times as a co-driver he also helped a lot too.
Biser3a: Joseph who is your rally childhood Idol especially from the 90s Era?
Joseph: Well it has to be Johnny. Johnny Moakadieh was amazing to be honest, he left a mark in me and many other people and he was living next to our house in Baabda so we he really influenced me a lot.
Biser3a: Did he get the credit he deserved?
Well he did get the credit he deserved but he didn’t win ROL and the Lebanese championship. Those titles were missing in his portfolio although he won the group N championship. We cannot say he is the best all time since every era has its driver. In the 70s there was Joe Hindy and there was Johnny in the 90s and there is Roger now.
Biser3a: Away from the Lebanese scene how do you the MERC championship?
Joseph: I think it’s dreadful. The drivers that are participating are investing from their own money and the competition is absent. From the beginning of this championship only one or 2 drivers had sponsors, like Mohammad Bin Suliem, Saeed Al Hajiri and Abdulla Ba Khashab. For this Championship to continue, it should become a 4×4 championship or a desert challenge. The only events that can be considered rallies are those of Lebanon, Jordan and Cyprus. The Syrians did some organization last year but the roads are not typical rally roads. This is my humble opinion, with all respect to everyone.
Biser3a: How do you see the WRC championship this year after the regulation changes?
Chady: the competition is very now after this change. The gap has really decreased. All the drivers are very near.
Joseph: the regulations helped a lot. The big manufacturers are coming back. VW and Mini are back and Fiat is rumored to be studying the return. They are also thinking of going back to long and endurance rallies and this is not the right way to go in my opinion, because they left those rallies due to their high cost.
Bisr3a: At the end what message do send to guys that love rallies and have similar circumstances like you?
Joseph: I tell them to try. If they really love it they should sacrifice and try to buy a small car with small costs. They should try to participate to fulfill their dreams. If they impress they will find the sponsors.
Chady: Well I think the club should impose a regulation to oblige the new comers to participate on 1600cc cars for one year at least. This way we will see bigger competition in this category too and the championship would also take a better twist.
Joseph: well I don’t think this is doable. You cannot impose such a rule. I guess the club can help the new guys by decreasing their entrance fees if they want to participate on 1600cc cars. This will encourage the new generation to participate. ATCL should study the case of the homologated cars too. In order to encourage some guys to participate they should let non homologated cars participate even if they have all the safety requirements.
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