Registrations were closed at the end of last week with 31 cars participating in the 29th International Rally of Lebanon organized by the ATCL on June 30, July 1 and 2, 2006. It will be marked by the participation of major drivers like Nasser Al-Attiyah from Qatar, the Middle East champion and the championship current leader, Sheikh Abdallah Al-Qassimi from the UAE, Roger Feghali from Lebanon, and Red Bull driver, Abdo Feghali.
This rally, the 5th stage of the Middle East Rally Championship, will undoubtedly be the nicest with the “Red Bull Head 2 Head” opening competition, the rally 1st SS show, to be held in the parking lot of the Camille Chamoun parking lot on Friday evening. The construction of the new track started last week under national and international technical supervision. The Lebanese Army is helping in the construction and is building the iron bridge where the two tracks meet. While one car passes on the bridge, another one will pass under then, the two drivers will switch places in order for each one to pass once on each track before the two tracks become parallel at the finish line. This will surely raise the drivers’ and the audience’s excitement to its highest levels.
Terraces are also being built for motorsport lovers, in addition to an official area for the VIPs from Lebanon and abroad who will be coming especially to watch this unique event in the Middle East.
Gaby Kreiker, the manager of the ATCL National Sport Committee, indicated that the rally total distance is of 987.56 km with 17 SS covering 275.56 km. He declared that the cars will shoot off from inside the Club at 6:30 p.m. Beirut time, on Friday, 30, towards the 1st SS show to be held in the Camille Chamoun Stadium in Beirut. A Porsche show followed by a classic cars show will take place at 8:30 p.m. before the “Red Bull Head 2 Head” competition.
The drivers have already started getting ready for the rally by practicing on their cars and making the final modifications while the Lebanese rally champion Abdo Feghali is receiving his new full-option Subaru Impreza N12. His aim is to win the Rally of Lebanon for the first time in order to maintain his title, knowing that the Rally of Lebanon is the only local rally that Red Bull driver has not won yet. However, he is very close to doing so, especially with the Subaru, the Group N world champion for the past two years.
