Rally of Lebanon Day 2: Al-Attiyah Leads Comfortably After Roger Feghali Retires

Nasser Al-Attiyah leads the 44th Coral Rally of Lebanon by 3m26s from Bassel Abu Hamdan after Roger Feghali went off the road on SS4. Alex Feghali leads Group N and Elias Dehni front-wheel drive.

Khaled Karam · 2 min read
Nasser Al-Attiyah's Volkswagen Polo GTI on a village stage during day two of the 44th Rally of Lebanon
Nasser Al-Attiyah on day two – Photo: MMS Racing

Qatar’s Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah and co-driver Matthieu Baumel lead the 44th Coral Rally of Lebanon, the fifth and final round of the FIA Middle East Rally Championship, at the end of the second day. The rally is organised by the Automobile and Touring Club of Lebanon (ATCL) under the patronage of President of the Republic General Michel Aoun.

Feghali out on SS4

The big news on Saturday was the retirement of Lebanon’s Roger Feghali and co-driver Joseph Matar, who went off the road after an incident on the fourth special stage.

Saturday’s stages drew big crowds of fans. Al-Attiyah was fastest on SS2, with Feghali 1.5 seconds behind and Tamer Ghandour third. On SS3, Al-Attiyah was quickest again, two seconds ahead of Feghali and Oman’s Abdullah Al Rawahi, opening a 3.9-second gap in the Qatari’s favour.

On SS4, Al-Attiyah – an 18-time Middle East champion – continued to dominate as Feghali, a 15-time Rally of Lebanon winner, left the road and retired. Al Rawahi moved up to second overall, ahead of Lebanon’s Bassel Abu Hamdan.

Relieved of Feghali’s pressure, Al-Attiyah flew on SS5, the last stage of the day, adopting a steady approach to set the best time ahead of Ghandour and Abu Hamdan. He leads the provisional standings by 3 minutes 26 seconds from Abu Hamdan and 4 minutes 50 seconds from Alex Feghali in third.

Alex Feghali and co-driver Marc Haddad lead Group N, while Elias Dehni and Amine Akl lead the front-wheel-drive class. With his only rival out, Al-Attiyah looks set to win the rally for a second time after 2019 – while Roger hopes to see the Feghali name on Sunday’s overall podium through his son Alex.

Provisional standings after day 2 (20 finishers, 10 retirements)

  1. Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah (Qatar) / Matthieu Baumel (Andorra) – Volkswagen Polo GTI: 53:57
  2. Bassel Abu Hamdan / Firas Elias – Skoda Fabia: 57:23
  3. Alex Feghali / Marc Haddad (France) – Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 10: 58:47
  4. Tamer Ghandour / Salim Jleilaty – Skoda Fabia: 59:29
  5. Chadi Fakieh / Samer Sfeir – Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9: 59:30
  6. Rabih Ayoub / Georges Nader – Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 10: 1h00m43s
  7. Elias Dehni / Amine Akl – Citroën DS3: 1h01m
  8. Carl Rizk / Karim Abou Elias – Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 8: 1h01m08s
  9. David Mezher / Chady Nasr – Citroën DS3: 1h04m
  10. Nasser Khalifa Al-Attiyah (Qatar) / Giovanni Bernacchini (Italy) – Ford Fiesta: 1h04m09s
  11. Joseph Salem / Rony Maroun – Peugeot 208: 1h06m
  12. Nidal Al Jurdi / Adham Al Jawhari – Renault Clio: 1h11m
  13. Jason Wehbe / Gary Koundakjian – Skoda Fabia: 1h13m
  14. Issa Abu Jamous / Emad Juma (Jordan) – Mitsubishi Lancer Evo: 1h14m06s
  15. Ihab Al-Shurafa / Yousef Juma (Jordan) – Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 10: 1h14m13s
  16. Charbel Chebli / Dolyne Chlink – Suzuki Swift: 1h16m
  17. Tarek Younis / Rony Bou Abdo – Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9: 1h16m27s
  18. Joanna Hassoun / France Souhaid – Renault Clio: 1h20m
  19. Yousef Al-Dhafeeri (Kuwait) / Ziad Bardawil – Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 10: 1h20m43s
  20. Tony Germanos / Elie Mhanna – Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9: 1h28m23s

Sunday programme

The final section starts at 7:15am on Sunday from the Jbeil municipal car park, with five stages: Nahr Ibrahim–Mashan (15.42km, SS6 and SS8) and Habboub–Bentaael (21.30km, SS7, SS9 and SS10), before the finish at the ATCL in Kaslik.

Photos: MMS Racing.