Nicolas Amiouni yesterday com­fortable won Rally Lebanon, round four of the FIA Middle East Rally Championship (MERC), taking the chequered flag one minute 26.2 seconds ahead of Rodrigue Rahi.

Qatar’s Abdulaziz Al Kuwari, however, denied the home fans a sweep of the podium by finishing third, three minutes 14.1 seconds behind Amiouni.

Given that the region’s top driv­ers, including championship leader Nasser Al Attiyah and the UAE’s Sheikh Khalid Al Qassimi and Sheikh Abdullah Al Qassimi had skipped the event over security concerns, it was not surprising that eight Lebanese drivers were among the top 10 finishers.

The result had no major impact on Al Attiyah’s position as cham­pionship leader and Sheikh Kha­lid’s second position in the overall standings, but Sheikh Abdullah did lose his third place, slipping down to fourth.

Abdulaziz has now moved to third overall in the standings, tak­ing a significant 14-point lead over Sheikh Abdullah going into the fifth and penultimate round of the championship in Cyprus on the weekend of September 19. The final round will be held in Dubai from November 27.

If Sheikh Khalid is to challenge for the title, then he must win both rounds and hope that Al Attiyah finishes the two events fourth or below.

But more significantly, with Ab­dulaziz moving to third, just 10 points adrift of Sheikh Khalid, the Abu Dhabi Racing driver could be distracted from his title push try­ing to protect his position at second overall.