Roger Feghali and Joseph Matar (Skoda Fabia R5) lead the 41st Rally of Lebanon after the penultimate day, organised by the Automobile et Touring Club du Liban (ATCL) under the patronage of President Michel Aoun with 29 cars. Qatar’s Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah and France’s Mathieu Baumel (Ford Fiesta R5) are second, 1m10.006s behind, and Rodolphe Asmar and Ziad Chehab (Skoda Fabia R5) are third, 4m07s off the lead.
Having led since setting the fastest time on Friday’s Total super special, record 13-time winner Feghali set the best time on all six of Saturday’s stages in the Jbeil and Batroun districts in hot, sunny weather, with Al-Attiyah, still chasing his first Rally of Lebanon win, in pursuit and Asmar pushing from further back.
Czech crew Vojtěch Štajf and Marcela Ehlová (Skoda Fabia R5), second on the super special, ended the day sixth, while the fight for fourth and fifth is tight between Eddy Abou Karam and Michel Saliby, separated by two seconds in Abou Karam’s favour.
Top 15 after day two
- 1. Roger Feghali / Joseph Matar (Skoda Fabia R5) 1:14:05
- 2. Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah / Mathieu Baumel (Ford Fiesta R5) 1:15:16
- 3. Rodolphe Asmar / Ziad Chehab (Skoda Fabia R5) 1:18:13
- 4. Eddy Abou Karam / Joseph Kmeid (Hyundai i20 R5) 1:18:51
- 5. Michel Saliby / Rony Maroun (Ford Fiesta R5) 1:18:53
- 6. Vojtěch Štajf / Marcela Ehlová (Skoda Fabia R5) 1:19:31
- 7. Patrick Njeim / Thierry Rouhana (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9) 1:21:27
- 8. Rodrigue Rahi / Georges Nader (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X) 1:23:09
- 9. Rony Kanaan / Samer Sfeir (Citroën DS3) 1:24:00
- 10. Henry Massaad / Roger Ghosn (Citroën DS3) 1:24:23
- 11. Mathias Njeim / Boudi Abi Nader (Peugeot 208) 1:26:05
- 12. Bassel Abou Hamdan / Firas Elias (Citroën DS3) 1:27:23
- 13. Tarek Younes / Nader Hamzeh (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9) 1:28:04
- 14. Elie Nehme / Chadi Beyrouthy (Renault Clio R3) 1:29:56
- 15. Ismat Seifi / Omar Mazkour (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9) 1:31:15
Four stages in the Metn, Chouf and Bekaa remain on Sunday, starting at 07:00 from the Fouad Chehab Sports Complex, with the podium ceremony at 16:30 at the ATCL in Kaslik.