Before turning to the history of the Lebanon International Rally, which will be organized by the Lebanese Automobile and Touring Club in its 44th edition on 2, 3 and 4 September under the auspices of the President of the Lebanese Republic, General Michel Aoun, we need to take a look at the legacy and development of the Lebanese Automobile and Touring Club (ATCL) between automobile clubs in the Middle East and around the world, since it was founded in 1919 and celebrated its centenary three years ago.

In 1951, José Chidiac organized a rally that among many events was known as the “Lebanon Cycle” with a track of almost 500 km and cars arriving at “Bessin Aley”. Thus, this event is considered the first rally in the Middle East. It was won by Louis “Lulu” in Seoul aboard the Renault Fregate. A second edition of the same competition was organized in 1955, finishing at the hippodrome in the Lebanese capital, Beirut, and was won by the same person driving a similar car. The Renault Fregate was the dominant car at the time as between these two rallies Pierre Heneine drove it to win the first Syria-Lebanon Rally in 1952.

mountain rally
The roots of the Lebanese International Rally called “Mountain Rally” date back to 1968, when the Lebanese Automobile and Touring Club came up with the idea of ​​organizing the rally, and 57 teams participated in its first edition, including 14. foreign teams that competed over a distance of 1100 km in the Lebanese regions and ended with the victory of the late Jean Bassili, founder of the magazine “Sport Auto” Antoine Selim and Fayez Zion on board the Renault 10.
The second time the rally was held in 1970 and ended with the victory of Gerard Asfar and Amin Hammud in a Renault 16 car. In 1973, the Jabal Rally was organized for the third time, and the honor of victory was returned to George Matta and George Mogani (Volkswagen 1303 S) – the latest version this event before the disastrous Lebanese War was staged. In 1974, Tony Giorgio and his co-driver Jean Le Edde were driving a Renault 12 Gordini.
In 1975, the club made all the arrangements and preparations for the rally and registered it in the registries of the International Automobile Federation, which recognized and approved it, but security measures did not allow it to be held until 1979.
After a four-year hiatus, the roar of cars returned to the Lebanese roads, and the 1979 race ended with the victory of George Dumit and his co-driver Sameer Sheikhani aboard an Audi 80LS.
1980 is considered a qualitative leap in the history of this rally, with the return of big names to the competition, and the winner was Albert Bassoul and Gerard Sonal at the wheel of the Renault 17 Gordini.
In the eighties, in the shadow of war and the roar of guns, the rally was absent in 1982, 1983, 1989, and then in 1990, and since then it has been absent only twice, and then in 2005 due to the assassination of Prime Minister Rafik Hariri 14 February 2005 and in 2020 due to the spread of the Corona pandemic. Among these stops we stop in 1986, when the rally was one of the stages of the Cyprus Rally Championship and saw the participation of 60 teams and ended with the victory of Nabil Karam (Billy) and Joe Sagbini (Porsche 911 ICRS)…
During this period, the Middle East Rally Championship was officially launched in 1984, and the Jabal Rally first joined the regional championship in 1987 (October 9-11) and ended with the victory of the Emirati duo, Mohammed bin Sulayem and his co-driver John Spiller aboard an Opel Manta. 400.
Rally Lebanon
In 1993, the name of the rally was changed to the “Marlborough Rally Lebanon” and was won by Frenchman Alain Houré with co-driver Jean-Marc André (Renault Clio Williams) and later by his compatriot Jean Raniotti.
This rally has become an annual station that attracts riders from all over the world, such as the Italian Sandro Munari, who won the FIA ​​Cup in 1977, as well as the French Jean Raniotti and Alain Auret.
It is noteworthy that the famous Finnish racer Tommi Makinen drove the car during the special stage in the 1990s. In 1995, 1993 European Rally Champion Pierre Cesar Baroni took part in the rally. In 1998, ex-world champion from Norway Peter Solberg took second place. Arab and international participation continued, for example, Emirati Mohammed bin Sulayem, Saudi Abdullah Bahashab, Qatari Saeed Al-Hajri, his compatriot Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah, French Yves Lope, Italian Piero Liati, Emirati Abdullah, Khaled Al Qasimi and Suheil Al Maktoum, as well as prominent Lebanese drivers led by Roger Feghali and Jean-Pierre Nasrallah, Samir Ghanem, Nabil Karam (Billy), Maurice Sehnaoui aka Bagheira, Abdo Feghali, Michel Saleh, Doumit Bou Doumit, the late Ziad Feghali, Eddie Abu Karam, Tamer Gandour, Nicholas Amiuni and Roderick El Raei… the list goes on.
Lebanese riders have clearly dominated the titles with the most victorious being Roger Feghali with 15 titles, followed by Jean-Pierre Nasrallah with three titles, while Emirati Mohammed bin Sulayem has won the title 4 times, as well as Saudi Abdullah Bahashab and Qatari Nasser . Saleh Al-Attiyah once (in 2019) at the same time. The Frenchman Alain Orai won the rally in 1993, and the Italians Alex Fiorio and Piero Liati in 1994 and 2001 respectively.
Since 2002, the inhabitants of the homeland of the Cedars have dominated the first threshold of the podium, during which Roger Fegali won the title 15 times (a record), compared with the victory of Jean-Pierre Nasralla and his co-driver Youssef Bassil in 2002. , Nicholas Amiuni and his co-driver Shadi Beiruti in 2014 and Tamer Ghandour and his co-driver Salim Jalilati in 2016. 3 years ago Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah of Qatar won the title, his first title in the Cedar Nation Rally.
The most prominent hot seat winner is co-driver Joseph Matar with 8 titles, followed by fellow co-driver Nabil Njeim (5).
In 2020, the Lebanese Rally was absent due to a general official closure as part of the measures to combat the Corona epidemic that paralyzed the world and Lebanon on a different level, to return in 2021 and win his title, Roger Fegali.

The Coral Rally Lebanon International looks promising in 2022, with fierce competition at another level and in a number of categories.