JEDDAH, 9 November 2004 — Lebanese national rally champion Abdo Feghali announced yesterday that he would participate in the forthcoming Dubai International Rally, the final round of the FIA Middle East Rally Championship, which takes place from Dec. 1-3.
The Lebanese Red Bull driver clinched his prestigious domestic rally title on an event in Lebanon back in October and made the decision to extend his rally program for the remainder of the 2004 season. He and Lebanese co-driver Joseph Matar will drive a Group N Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 8, with which they tackled the Troodos Rally in Cyprus at the start of October.
“I’ve heard such a lot of stories about rallying in the Gulf,” said Feghali. The desert is so different to everything which I’ve experienced before, but it is a new challenge, a great opportunity for me to progress in the sport and try my hand on stages that are totally different. If I’m to compete in the whole Middle East Rally Championship in the future, which is a personal goal of mine, I need to make sure that I can match the more experienced drivers on different race surfaces.”
He said he had built up a reputation as a competitive tarmac rally driver and now was the time for me to expand that reputation and achieve some excellent results on sandy and loose gravel surfaces. “I’ve one of the very latest Mitsubishis available this year and we’ll ensure that it is set up as well as we can for the different terrain,” he said.
Abdo, nicknamed Dado, will use a car originally built by Mitsubishi Ralliart in Dubai. It was used by his older brother Roger to take victory in July’s Rally of Lebanon, before being modified to take part in last month’s Nicosia-based Troodos Rally. Roger will act as on-event team manager in Dubai, passing on invaluable tips and experience to his younger brother.
Following the FIA’s decision to change the regulations governing the Middle East rally series at the end of 2003, only Group N and 1600 cars have been able to score points in the championship in 2004. The series has been very competitive,” Abdo added. “It has developed into a battle ground between Mitsubishi and Subaru this year and I am confident that I have the car to match the other front-runners and hopefully take a podium finish.”
The Dubai International Rally will be based at the At Bustan Rotana Hotel and offers a total of 16 timed special stages to the south of the city. The organizers — the Automobile Club of the United Arab Emirates — claim that there will be a fine balance of gravel and sandy surfaces to test what they hope will be the largest entry seen in the region for several years.
