Roger Feghali may have cruised to a seventh Rally Lebanon victory in eight years yesterday, but the UAE's Sheikh Khalid al Qassimi's second-place finish secured the Team Abu Dhabi driver maximum Middle East Rally Championship (Merc) points in round five of the eight-event regional series.
"We didn't get the win, but it was still important to get maximum points because Roger's not registered in the Merc series," al Qassimi, the fifth-most successful driver in the regional championship's history, said. "There's still a long way to go and anything can happen. Nothing is decided yet and I'll keep pushing while I have a chance. I need to stay out of trouble and avoid any technical problems because it is important that Michael [Orr, al Qassimi's Northern Irish co-driver] and I are still in the hunt for the title when the seasons ends in Dubai."
Al Qassimi's performance drew praise from Ron Cremen, the manager of Team Abu Dhabi. "Khalid's coming off the back of crashes in Finland and Japan that shook his confidence and this is a great result for him to bounce back with," he said. "We've taken as many points as we could here and this result shakes up the title picture." With local asphalt specialists dominating the sweeping tarmac passes, Feghali - who is unbeaten in Lebanon since 2003 - won the rally's first eight stages to open up an unassailable lead ahead of the six sealed surface tests yesterday.
Although al Qassimi, the only Gulf driver to feature among the fastest five cars in any of the event's 14 stages, failed to displace Feghali during a spirited final leg assault, he found consolation - as the field's highest ranked Merc-registered entry - in claiming 10 drivers' points. Al Qassimi's maximum haul doubled his season tally to 20 points and the Emirati now sits just 10 points behind Qatar's Misfer al Marri . The drivers' championship leader finished third in Lebanon's Merc classification positions - with three rounds remaining.
Saudi Arabia's Yazeed Al Rajhi, who won the previous rounds of the series in Jordan and Saudi, did not compete in Lebanon and is tied for second with al Qassimi in the drivers' standings. Al Qassimi's elder brother, Abdullah, finished second in the Merc positions, with Cremen insisting the family one-two was a huge boost for the younger sibling's tilt for a second regional title. "Abdullah's result will help Khalid, no doubt about it," Cremen said. "He's taken two important points from Misfer and they could prove vital.
"It's all to play for in Syria now; that's where the title contenders will be sorted out." @Email:emegson@thenational.ae
