Roger Feghali and co-driver Joseph Matar (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 10) lead the 46th Coral Rally of Lebanon after day two on Saturday. Bassel Abu Hamdan and Firas Elias (Volkswagen Polo GTI) are second, and Rabih Ayoub and Georges Nader (Skoda Fabia) third after a fierce fight with Carl Rizk, who is fourth. The two were tied on aggregate time after SS6, before Ayoub clinched third on SS7, the last stage of the day.
Feghali led after setting the fastest time on Friday evening’s opening super special, ahead of Ayoub and Joseph Hindi/Vicken Kanledjian (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 10). The 16-time Rally of Lebanon winner then set the fastest time on all six of Saturday’s stages, totalling 129.44km. The “son of Wadi Chahrour” dominated the day and was in a league of his own, leaving Abu Hamdan, Ayoub and Rizk to fight for second. Barring a major surprise, Feghali is heading for a 17th Rally of Lebanon win, extending his record.
The rally, round three of the 2024 Lebanese Rally Championship, is being held in hot summer weather in front of big crowds on the special stages. Of the 29 starters, 22 reached the finish on Saturday afternoon; Elias Dehni, Jason Wehbe, Joanna Hassoun, Tony Germanos, Nidal Al Jurdi, Henry Kahy and Sami Daou retired for various reasons.
Unofficial standings after day 2
- Roger Feghali / Joseph Matar – Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 10: 1h15m40s
- Bassel Abu Hamdan / Firas Elias – Volkswagen Polo GTI: 1h17m13s
- Rabih Ayoub / Georges Nader – Skoda Fabia: 1h17m46s
- Carl Rizk / Karim Abou Elias – Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 10: 1h17m48s
- Joseph Hindi / Vicken Kanledjian – Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 10: 1h19m37s
- Rodrigue Rahi / Nabil Kombaz – Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9: 1h21m06s
- Tarek Younis / Salim Jleilaty – Ford Fiesta RS: 1h21m58s
- David Mezher / Chady Nasr – Citroën DS3: 1h22m39s
- Ahmad Khaled / Musa Djiyerian (Jordan) – Ford Fiesta: 1h22m54s
- Charbel Chebli / Dolyne Chlink – Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9: 1h23m11s
- Ria Dagher / Nadim Abou Elias – Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 10: 1h24m16s
- Nasser Khalifa Al-Attiyah (Qatar) / Ziad Chehab – Ford Fiesta: 1h24m49s
- Paul Ksaifi / Rawad Issa – Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 8: 1h25m20s
- Chadi Fakieh / Samer Sfeir – Renault Clio 1.3: 1h25m53s
- Joseph Salem / Carlos Hanna – Peugeot 208: 1h26m55s
- Charbel Khalifeh / Roger Ghosn – Renault Clio RS: 1h29m16s
- Rouwad El-Hachem / Gary Koundakjian – Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9: 1h29m30s
- Walid Schlink / Andre Achkouty – Renault Clio RS: 1h31m10s
- Serge Akiki / Elie Mhanna – Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 8: 1h44m51s
- Joey El Hajj / Christopher Kanledjian – Hyundai: 1h48m51s
- Camille Moucharrafieh / Naji Sfeir – Honda Civic: 2h03m46s
- Anna Simon Yazbek / France Souhaid – Skoda Fabia: 2h10m58s
Sunday stages
Four special stages (67.86km) take place in the Metn on Sunday, starting at 8:15am from the Fouad Chehab complex in Jounieh, including Zandouqa–Baabdat (16.85km) and Zbougha–Kfartay (16.30km), with the podium ceremony at 4.30pm at the ATCL.
Photos: MMS Racing.