After much speculation over the new venue of the Hill Climb, and the different reactions we got when the new venue in Bteghrine was defined, we had to get to the bottom of the issue.
Naaman Hatem, Race director tells us all about the new venue and answers’ the drivers’ concerns.
Why did you choose the Bteghrine track although we know that it has very wide roads?
We had a lot of difficulties in finding the right place. We searched a lot we even went to Zahle and Dhur, but many of the villages didn’t cooperate. Our target was to find something new, a new challenge for the drivers. The track is very wide but in the past we used to have a Hill Climb done on wider roads. If you remember “Liban Cable”, the track was much wider. It was even 1.5x wider than the track now.
We saw that many drivers are objecting and they are threatening not to participate. What will be your decision and did any of the complaints reach you?
We cannot take into consideration all the talk especially if it is not formal. Every driver wants something different and we cannot do according to every single one’s need. Any they are complaining without even seeing the track and I guess starting from tomorrow’s practice session things will change.
The main complaint was about top speeds. Is the road risky?
We are inserting seven Chicanes in the road. This will help reduce the top speed. The driver will have to enter a Chicane before going into a curve after some meters forward. The top speeds will stay minimum and our intentions fall for the safety of the drivers.
Why didn’t you choose another road in the area similar to Zabbougha for example?
Again as we mentioned before we surfed the whole country for a good road but we couldn’t find what we want and we faced some non-cooperation from the villages. We also needed to stick with our defined distance of the road so we had to make this choice. I seriously believe that it is going to be very nice road and a very challenging race.
Does this road present any difficult organizational challenges for you as ATCL?
It will be the same for us.
In your opinion what type of cars will this road favor?
It might favor the BMWs a bit, but with the insertion of chicanes, the field will be level again. The road is new for everybody so all categories and all drivers will face the same challenge. They need to check the road tomorrow and they will know what we are talking about.