saleh targets home boost for podium bid
City of Arabia driver believes local knowledge in Lebanon
can help him climb again in Middle East championship
After a battling performance in Cyprus, Michel Saleh is hoping for a trouble-free run in his native Lebanon next month to keep alive his hopes of a podium finish in this year’s FIA Middle East Rally Championship.
A broken drive shaft and gearbox problems hindered Saleh’s progress in his City of Arabia Subaru Impreza during the Cyprus Rally, round five of the eight-round regional series, which was hit by controversy.
Despite the double setback which restricted him to a ninth place finish overall, the veteran UAE-based Lebanese driver climbed level on fourth place in the championship with Emirati Sheikh Abdullah Al Qassimi who missed the event.
While he is still ten points adrift of Jordan’s Amjad Farrah, Saleh believes home advantage in round seven in Lebanon and the championship scoring system could yet help him beat Farrah to third place overall in the series.
“You must remember that only seven out of eight events in the championship count, and some of the drivers, including Amjad, will lose points when they discard one of their events at the end of the season,” he said.
Saleh 2
“I’ve already discarded Qatar where I didn’t score points, so I’m going to make up some ground and I’m looking for a good performance in Lebanon. It’s my home rally and I learned to drive on tarmac in Lebanon so I want to do well there.”
Saleh will choose between his City of Arabia Subaru and his Mitsubishi Evolution after giving both cars some intensive pre-event testing in Lebanon.
Cyprus Rally officials were forced to shorten the opening leg after members of the rival Cyprus Motorsport Federation blockaded the opening special stage with their own vehicles and surrounded the car of the FIA Observer because of an ongoing dispute over licences and eligibility.
The event was won by Cypriot Charalambos Timotheou, while second place allowed Qatar’s defending Middle East champion Nasser Al-Attiyah to cut the championship lead of the UAE’s Sheikh Khalid Al-Qassimi from 11pts to nine points.
