Michel Saleh has been given the all-clear round off his 2007 Middle East Championship campaign in the Dubai International Rally after receiving hospital treatment following a crash in Lebanon on Sunday.
Saleh has been told by a doctor to rest for a week and wear a metal belt to support his back after suffering a cracked vertebrae in the accident during the Rally of Lebanon, penultimate round of the Middle East series.
The UAE-based Lebanese driver had been lying fifth in his City of Arabia Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 9 after 13 of 17 special stages as he attempted to close in on third place in the championship.
But he crashed in heavy rain on a road section as he tried to avoid a truck, and while co-driver Ziad Chihab was unhurt Saleh was taken to hospital where X-rays revealed a single cracked vertebrae in his back.
“I’m still in pain but the doctor has said that I will be ok in about a week and I’m definitely doing the Dubai Rally,” said Saleh. “It was just one of those things. The road was very slippery, it was raining heavily, and suddenly this truck was right in front of me. In trying to avoid it I slipped off the road and we fell about seven metres and hit a house.”
While the car was only slightly damaged, Saleh has already decided to revert to his City of Arabia Subaru Impreza for the Dubai International Rally which gets under way on 30th November.
He is also hopeful that the UAE’s Yahya Alhelei will shrug off his own disappointment in Lebanon to boost the City of Arabia challenge in Dubai.
Alhelei gave a good account of himself on his Middle East Championship debut alongside Abdul Hakeem Zayed in a City of Arabia Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 8 before sliding into a ditch in pouring rain, and going out of the rally.
“He was doing very well in his first tarmac rally,” said Saleh. “Before going out he was ahead of drivers who have done the rally many times before and know the conditions well. We were both unlucky, but we hope to put that behind us in Dubai.”
Saleh has lost his chance of overhauling Jordan’s Amjad Farrah to take third place in the Middle East Championship but a strong finish to the season in Dubai could see him beat the UAE’s Sheikh Abdullah Al Qassimi to fourth spot overall.
FIA Middle East Championship driers positions after 7 of 8 rounds
1. Sheikh Khalid Al-Qassimi (UAE) 57 pts
2. Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah (QA) 50 pts
3. Amjad Farrah (HKJ) 40 pts
4. Michel Saleh (RL) 25 pts
Sheikh Abdullah Al-Qassimi (UAE) 25 pts
6. Misfer Al-Marri (QA) 15 pts
7. Nicholai Georgiou (RL) 14 pts
