All-conquering Roger Fegahli earns his 19th victory at the Rally of Lebanon with 11-time-winning navigator Joseph Matar

Roger Feghali won all but one stage on his way to an emphatic 19th victory in the Rally of Lebanon, round four of the 2026 FIA Middle East Rally Championship (MERC), on Sunday afternoon.

The Toyota GR Yaris driver’s navigator Joseph Matar secured an 11th win on the three-day only asphalt round of the regional series. The pair were not registered for MERC points, however, and that opened the door for Saudi Arabia’s Bassel Abu Hamdan and his local co-driver Firas Elias to secure the valuable points in the championship for finishing as runners-up in a Skoda Fabia R5, albeit 2min 24.1sec adrift of the local star.

Elias Dehni and Thierry Rouhanna earned the final place on the podium after a strong push through the final morning in their Skoda Fabia R5. Carl Rizk and Karim Abou Elias topped the standings in the showroom class in their fourth-placed Mitsubishi and Tarel Younis and Salim Jleilaty (Skoda) rounded off the top five.

A couple of leading teams that had been on the original entry list withdrew before the start. MERC title contenders Hamza Bakhashab and Nasser Khalifa Al-Atya failed to travel and Lebanese female driver Joanna Hassoun also withdrew. Bakhashab had suffered travel restriction issues prior to leaving his native Saudi Arabia.

Elie Mhanna replaced Ibrahim Ali to sit alongside Jordan’s Sami Fleifel, as 21 crews took the start. They included 13 registered for the regional rally series. Neither defending champion Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah nor former MERC winner Abdullah Al-Rawahi had entered the event, although Al-Attiyah continues to lead the series.

Final day retirements for Alex Feghali, Joseph Hindy, Ahmad Khaled, Serge Tchopourian and Jad Al-Aawar, threw the midfield wide open and paved the way for Rhea Dagher and Nadim Abou Elias to finish sixth in their little Renault Clio.

MERC regulars Shadi El-Fakih and Samer Sfeif were seventh in a new Lancia Ypsilon and MERC2 front-runner Shaker Jweihan teamed up with Mustafa Juma and picked up priceless points in both MERC and MERC2 for finishing 10th (sixth in MERC). His main MERC2 rival Zakariya Al-Aamri rounded off the finishers in 15th.

Jweihan was disqualified late on Sunday evening for non-conformity to the regulations governing piston stroke measurements in the engine of his Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X. His demise boosted rival Al-Aamri’s chances of lifting the MERC2 crown.

Predictably, Feghali beat his rivals through the opening 2.54km super special around the streets of Jounieh on Friday evening. The Toyota Yaris GR driver edged into a 1.7-second lead over his son Alex with Abu Hamdan leading the MERC runners in third. All 21 crews completed the opener.

Feghali ceded the win to Abu Hamdan through the first of the proper asphalt stages at Toula on Saturday morning but the local supremo won the remaining four speed tests to finish the leg with an advantage of 36.8 seconds. Abu Hamdan was second quickest on the second pass through Toula and both runs in Deir Bella to hold a similar position in the rankings.

Feghali’s son Alex was a comfortable third in the second of the Škodas and Hindy and Rizk rounded off the top five. With many of his rivals not present in Lebanon, Jweihan settled into 16th overall and 10th of the registered drivers and fourth in MERC2. Rival Al-Aamri was 21st overall.

Sunday’s action headed into the hills and twisty roads around Nahr Ibrahim, Zandouka and Zabbougha. Feghali was quickest on all six stages to complete an emphatic from Abu Hamdan and a resurgent Elias Dehni, the star of the second day in his Škoda Fabia.

Two rounds remain on the official 2026 FIA MERC calendar in Cyprus next month and Saudi Arabia in November. Both events have yet to be officially confirmed.