Despite coming in with his Middle East title secured ahead of the final leg in Lebanon, Al-Attiyah was still eyeing a second win in the local rally, and the withdrawal of his title rival allowed him to dominate the race and cruise to victory without much trouble.
With the Qatari driver securing first place, and R. Feghali out of competition, the battle for second place reached its climax between Tamer Ghandour, 2016 title holder, and Bassel Bou Hamdan.
Despite Ghandour’s considerable efforts, his brilliant performance on the second day was not enough to secure silver in the overall classification, and Bou Hamdan crossed the finish line in second place, with Ghandour settling for third.
The Rally saw many emerging talents bringing their A-game, most notably, son of Lebanese rally legend Roger Feghali, Alex Feghali, who finished the race in fifth despite technical issues that cost him precious seconds in his battle for his category title.
In the front wheel drive category, Elias Dehni dominated all stages of the rally across North Lebanon, and secured his third title in this category this year, after the Jezzine and Spring Rallies. With this win, he won the Lebanese overall title, along with the Middle East Championship in the FWD category.
Below are the 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: MITSUBISHI LANCER EVO IX, Issa Abu Jamous, Emad Juma +42:59.9
10: MITSUBISHI LANCER EVO X, Ihab Alshurafa, Yousef Juma +46:11.8