Qatar’s Nasser Al Attiyah and his French co-driver Mathieu Baumel on the podium following the 44th Rally of Lebanon at the Automobile and Touring Club of Lebanon (ATCL) in Jounieh, Lebanon yesterday.
Doha: Qatar’s Nasser Saleh Al Attiyah along with his French co-driver Mathieu Baumel claimed the 44th Rally of Lebanon title topping the final two stages yesterday and finishing with an overall time of 1:52:23.2secs, 5:52.8secs ahead of Lebanon’s Bassel Abu Hamdan and Fras Elias.
Lebanon’s record 15-time title holder Roger Feghali, along with Joseph Matar, unfortunately suffered an accident on the final day and had to retire. They ended overall fourth (2:04:57.1).
Al Attiyah, who had already claimed a record 18th Middle East Rally Championship (MERC) title ahead of the final leg in Lebanon, expressed his delight and stressed that he is always keen to represent Qatar and Arab region in any championship in the world including the Dakar Rally.
“I am very happy to win the Lebanon Rally. I am always keen to represent Qatar and the Arabs in the best way in any sporting event I participate around the world,” Al Attiyah said while inviting fans from around the world to come to Qatar to witness the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 in November and December.
Ziad Jamous, director of the 2022 Rally of Lebanon, congratulated Nasser Al Attiyah on winning the rally title for a second time in its history. “This victory did not come as a surprise because the competition was limited to the Lebanese driver Roger Feghali and Nasser Saleh Al Attiyah,” he said
Organised by The Automobile and Touring Club of Lebanon (ATCL), this year’s event was fought out over 10 tarmac special stages, totalling 192.30km, in a total route of 478.83km over winding asphalt mountain roads to the north and east of Beirut.
The rally had two runs yesterday through the Nahr Ibrahim stage and three passes of the Hboub stage.
44th Rally of Lebanon Results
Pos. Car, Driver, Co-Driver, Time (Diff.)
1: VOLKSWAGEN POLO GTI, Nasser Al Attiyah, Matthieu Baumel 1:52:23.2
2: SKODA FABIA, Bassel Abou Hamdan, Firas Elias +5:52.8
3: SKODA FABIA, Tamer Ghandour, Salim Jleilaty +6:03.5
4: MITSUBISHI LANCER EVO X, Alex Feghali, Marc Haddad +12:33.9
5: MITSUBISHI LANCER EVO IX, Chadi Fakieh, Samer Sfeir +13:26.7
6: CITROEN DS3, Elias Dehni, Amin AKL +15:33.9
7: CITROEN DS3, David Mezher, Chadi Nasr +20:27.0
8: Ford Fiesta R5, Nasser Khalifa Al Atiya, Giovanni Bernachinni +21:53.8
9 27 MITSUBISHI LANCER EVO IX, Issa Abu Jamous, Emad Juma +42:59.9
10 23 MITSUBISHI LANCER EVO X, Ihab Alshurafa, Yousef Juma +46:11.8
