Like every team preparing for the 38th Rally of Lebanon on September 4–6, TGRS (TG Rally Skills), run by Tony Germani, is putting the finishing touches to its programme. The rally will be decisive for the local titles, with its first leg counting as round four of the Lebanese championship and its second leg as round five.
We finished testing after a great deal of effort, and next week we will do more test sessions, hoping everything goes well. As TGRS we are aiming this season to win the Lebanese Rally Championship. We started this year with two clear goals: winning the Lebanese Rally Championship and the Lebanese Hill Climb Championship for Group N cars.
Tony Germani
The first goal has already been achieved, with Eddy Abou Karam winning the Lebanese Hill Climb title for Group N cars. The second, the one closest to Germani’s heart, remains open.
Eddy Abou Karam (Evo 10) led the provisional drivers’ standings in the Lebanese Rally Championship, but unfortunately his retirement from the Jezzine Rally after an accident while he was leading his class, and then his drop to fourth in the Cedars Rally after a puncture, stopped him keeping the lead.
Tony Germani
Alongside Abou Karam, Rodrigue Rahi (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9) leads Group N and can also fight for the overall title. Rahi has 231 points and sits second overall behind Roger Feghali (270), as well as leading Group N ahead of Abou Karam (210) and Tamer Ghandour (195).
Germani knows the Abou Karam–Rahi battle is a fight under one roof and says the winner will be whoever is fastest on the stages.
My head says one of them has to win the championship title… in the end we cannot set any particular strategy or force one of them to give up a title for the other, and the biggest proof of that is what happened in the Cedars Rally this year when Abou Karam and Rahi fought to the very last moment.
Tony Germani
The rest of the TGRS line-up
Newcomer Nadim Bou Mansour (Evo 10 R4) will be partnered on the Rally of Lebanon by Portuguese co-driver Hugo Magalhães, who usually sits alongside Eddy Abou Karam, to pass on his experience. Emile Abou Karam, Eddy’s older brother, returns to his Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9 after missing every local round this year, with young new co-driver Thierry Rouhana.
Henry Massaad and co-driver Rami Moneim recently joined the team. Massaad leads the two-wheel-drive class and is third overall on 223 points, while Moneim leads the co-drivers’ standings.
We are working a lot on the Renault Clio 4 driven by Henry Massaad. It is special in the way it drives and has very modern suspension. Massaad leads the two-wheel-drive standings and his co-driver Moneim leads the championship, so we hope the Rally of Lebanon ends with both of them being crowned. This year is a good year for TGRS.
Tony Germani
Bechara Bechir completes the line-up in his Renault Clio RS. Despite his many years on the stages, Germani says he is producing his best performances this year: “We work hard with him, help him and give him a lot of experience.”
Germani expects a strong fight in the Rally of Lebanon, especially with Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah arriving in a Skoda Fabia R5, and said Roger Feghali is playing the card of daring by driving a Ford Fiesta RRC, since everyone knows the RRC is essentially a WRC car modified to fit the regulations governing these cars.