After his dominant win in the Cedars Rally we met Lebanese Multiple Rally champion Roger Feghali to talk about the happenings of the rally, the R4 kits, MotorTune’s results and the amazing new stage.
Congratulations for the win. How did you find this year’s Cedars Rally and how did you find the new stage, SS2, SS5 and SS8?
The track was very nice in general. We know Arjes and Hadath al Jebbe, but the new stage in Kfar Helda is one of the best and most amazing stages in Lebanon. This stage is spectacular and very challenging. It needs a lot of good driving. In this stage you can push from the beginning and make a difference. It’s just amazing.
Do you suggest that it might be a good stage in the Rally Of Lebanon?[singlepic id=1266 w=320 h=240 float=right]
Well I can’t suggest anything because it’s not up to me. ATCL decides on these things. From my part though, I hope that it will be repeated some time again, in the Cedars Rally, in the Spring Rally, in ROL, I don’t care.
You have finished the rally 4 minutes ahead of second place. Are you satisfied overall, considering that’s a big gap?
Well in the first 2 stages we could have done a little bit better. In the 7th stage at night our glass got foggy, so we could have been faster, but in the 8th and 9th stages we were very fast at night. Anyway I was not really looking at the times. I was just working hard on developing the car, discovering it and improving it.
We saw you flying in the night stages and creating bigger gaps than the day time stages. Why were you still pushing although you had a comfortable lead?
I was driving for my own satisfaction. I was driving to push myself more, and my limit more, and to improve myself. If I was just here for the win, I could have completed the day cruising, and finished the rally 20 seconds ahead. My target is to push every car I drive to the maximum, and try to get the best out of it. If I finish the rally 20 seconds ahead and I know that I pushed to the maximum, I will be satisfied. If I finish the rally 4 minutes ahead and I drove 80%, I won’t be satisfied. I am here to enjoy myself and I’m not here just for the trophy.
Did the R4 kit make a big difference for between this rally and the Spring Rally?
The car is much better for sure. It’s much faster.
Did you exploit it to the maximum or does it need some more work?
No it needs some more work.
Four MotorTune cars finished in the top four spots. Are you satisfied with the result of the team?
We had a very good result. The guys drove amazingly well. Their stage times were very fast. Nicolas lost some time in SS2 but he recovered the time lost pretty fast. Tamer was very fast. Nick as usual was fast too. The guys did a great job. Chafic was very fast in the last loop. If he had that pace in the day time stages, his result would have been much better. It an amazing result and you can’t ask for better. This win is dedicated to every single MotorTune member who worked very hard in the last 2 weeks to prepare the cars and especially the R4 kits. The guys didn’t sleep and kept working for us to be ready in this rally. I am very proud and happy that MotorTune is one of the first teams in the world to try the R4 kits after Rally Art Italy which developed this kit in the first place. We got many phone calls asking us about the tyre pressure and temperature, the car setup and many other areas of the car, since this is the car’s first experience on Tarmac. Rally Art Italy tried the kit on gravel in the Sardinia Rally only. It’s an amazing feeling to have a big company like Rally Art trusting MotorTune.
In a previous conversation we had together, you were complaining from the lack of Kilometers driven, do you think the addition of one or two rallies would give you a step forward in this area?
It will give us 2 steps forward. Anyway it’s not up to me, it’s up to ATCL.
Any last message?
I would like to thank my sponsors that are keeping their faith in us year after year, and are helping us in doing an amazing job. Big thanks to Motul, Rayyes Racing Parts, and Jack and Jones. they are just amazing.
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