Ahead of the awaited first speed test event of the season, competition is looking fierce and the drivers are very well prepared. In our build up for the big day we met Osmat Saify, a man who really impressed in the past couple of years to talk to him about the speed test in addition to his preparation for the upcoming Cedars Rally 2011, and many other things.
The first speed test event of the season is this Sunday, how did you prepare and what’s your target?
We don’t have big preparations. You know in speed test competition you don’t need as much power as you do in other competitions. It’s just about driving well in the 2 runs I have so we have prepared the minimum needed for the speed test. We are looking for finishing the event on the podium and nothing less.
What do you think about ATCL’s decision about the winners of the amateur category last year?
Before I give you my opinion let me recap a little and tell you about this decision and another decision they came up with. Last year they decided that the podium finishers of the amateur category cannot participate in it this year to open the door for other drivers, and to push the winners to prepare professional racing cars and take it more serious. This will also push those drivers to go into Hill Climb challenges and rallies. Well they have a point, and I did understand it back then. On the other hand there are many people who have only one car like Shady Akl, and it’s not a professional racing car with Homologation. We suggested that for Shady’s case, they should allow him to put a breed on the turbo and participate in the Prototype category without homologating his car because it’s going to cost a lot. So if someone was a good driver and he was scoring podium results in the amateur category, you come and hold such decisions you will be presenting him from competing. So now if you’re a good driver with no professional car, you need to put a fortune to prepare a car to compete. There is absolutely something wrong with this decision. They should reconsider this decision.
On the other hand there is another decision that I cannot totally understand. ATCL has decided that the Lebanese rally champion this year as well as the Lebanese Hill Climb Champion will not be allowed to participate in the speed test next year. So if Abdo Feghali wins the Hill Climb championship we will not see him in the speed test next year. Let’s say this year we lost Dado in the speed test and the year after we lost Garo and so on, it will not be interesting to participate in this competition anymore. There will be no bench mark to compare[singlepic id=269 w=320 h=240 float=right] yourself too so I will not participate.
Taking about Abdo, how much can you challenge him in this Speed Test?
Abdo is the complete package. He is a maestro, very good driver and practices a lot and works on himself a lot. His car is very well prepared and updated. Logistically he is well supported from MotorTune and Roger. He is the dream package. To come close to him you need the minimum of what he has, and some luck. Let’s take Sunday, if Dado makes a big mistake I may come ahead, but if he doesn’t make a mistake it’s impossible.
Apart from Dado how do you see the competition on Sunday?
Garo has a very good prototype car prepared. He is driving well and last year he had a good car. If you look at the speed test numbers, all the guys are within 2 seconds. Dado is 4 or 5 seconds away. Let’s see how we can get closer to Dado.
Back to rallies, you seem satisfied from your result in the Spring Rally. What are you looking for in the Cedars Rally?
I was satisfied with my result because this is the first rally I finish. It’s the first rally I don’t face a lot of bad luck in. This is the first rally I score points in. In 2009 we started rallying after a long period away from motorsport, I directly won the promotion cup in my first rally although we face a lot of mechanical difficulties, to the extent that we pushed the car to the Parc Ferme because it stopped working. In the 2009 Cedars Rally I had a big accident my Co-driver threw me of the road. Spring Rally 2010 w had some problems in the car so we finished way behind. 2010 Cedars rally, our car wasn’t ready; we were preparing it in a garage where I don’t want to give the honor to mention his name. In last year’s ROL I had a strategy to use my old tyres at the night stages and then switch to the new ones in the next 2 days, but it didn’t work.
So the Spring Rally 2011 was very good for me. I drove the whole rally on 4 tyres. I drove with precision and made it to the finish. I really enjoyed it.
How are you preparing for the Cedars rally?
The most important thing in the Cedars rally is that I have new sets of tyres, so you can congratulate me. I have 18” rims which will give me more stability and traction. The car is well prepared in every aspect. I have a new talented mechanic and he is fully dedicated for me. His name is Maher Mender and he also prepares Bassel Bou Hamdan’s car too. I’m not talking about his professionalism but I am saying that he is a very dedicated person and he gives us all his time.
You used to prepare your car at Kazan performance, why did you change?
Look Philip is amazing. I can’t leave Philip, he helped a lot, but in short his bill is expensive and he deserves it. For me it’s difficult to pay his bill. This is the only reason.
We see that you have a full participate in all ATCL events this year, what are your short term and long term targets?
I am not going to talk about big titles. As long as I have no sponsors, I will try my best. I can’t challenge for titles except in speed tests, because the expenses are low and I have a chance. In Hill Climbs I will be participating in the Prototype category and see how close I can get and in rallies I will try my best to improve. I will keep trying until have big sponsors that will give the chance to improve.
You started driving sports cars in 1994, what’s the difference between that Era and now, especially between the drivers back then Like JP Nasrallah, Johnny Moakadieh, Adel Metni, Cristian Korban, nad many others, compared to now?
Back then cheating was less and driving was more. There was good car and good drivers. Johnny Moakadieh and Cristain Korban used to scare you with their speed. We are not seeing this now. We have roger, God bless him, and he is an example in his driving and his feeling. We try to emulate him and learn from him.
[singlepic id=265 w=320 h=240 float=left]So you don’t see any big talents?
There are talents I don’t deny that, but not on the same level of the people like Johnny Moakadieh Cristian Korban, Baguera, JP Nasrallah and many others. There is only Roger I guess. You asked me a definite question and I answered. Expert drivers on the level of those legends are not present.
If we are going to talk about emerging talents, there are many bright names, like Tamer Ghandour. I like his driving and his stability. His mistakes are very rare. Nicolas Amiouni is very fast and very aggressive. There is Joe Ghanem too. These guys are on the right track. They are in a school at MotorTune, Roger is teaching them and preparing their cars, so it’s going well with them. I have to mention Bassel Bou Hamdan too. We saw him last year and this year, and he is winning the group A category on an average car.
There are many good talents but we still can’t compare them with the old legends.
How do you see your relationship with your new Co-driver?
Rabih was very good. I got very optimistic from our first run together in the Spring Rally. Unfortunately he will not be participating with me again in the Cedars rally due to his circumstances, so I will be back with my old co-driver Meshaal Youssef. Anyways let’s hope for the best. In my opinion rallying is 70 percent down to your relationship with your Co-driver. If you trust him you will get better times?
Any last message?
I have to thank everyone who supported us, morally and financially. Geroges Malak and spoiler center are always next to me. I have to thank Zeta, Jehadco, GTS (Osmat’s own company) and Rania Hamadeh. I would like to thank Maher Monzer garage also. As we mentioned above he is a new guy and he is very talented.
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