Antonine University (UA) brought the world of motorsport to its Hadat–Baabda Campus on September 8, 2026, through Adrenaline Rush, a panel discussion held as part of the Welcome Week 2026, bringing students together with leading figures from Lebanese motorsport.
Moderated by Dr. Norma Dahdah, Chairperson of UA’s Department of Motricity Education and Adapted Physical Activities, the panel featured Mr. Ziad Jamous, Attorney at Law and Race Director for the Rally of Lebanon, representing Mr. Billy Karam, President of the Automobile and Touring Club of Lebanon (ATCL); Mr. Imad Lahoud, President of the FIA Rally Commission; Mr. Jamil Yazbeck, Executive President of Rally Plus and Lebanese Motorsport Champion; Mr. Jason Wehbe, Co-Founder of Rally Plus and Lebanese Rally Junior Champion; Mr. Marc El Hayek, Chief Safety Officer and Motorsport Event Manager at ATCL; and Mr. Christopher Kanledjian, Lebanese Motorsport Driver.
The event was attended by UA Rector Fr. Michel Saghbiny, Dr. Antonio Soutou, Dean of UA’s Faculty of Sport Sciences (FSS), vice rectors, department chairpersons, faculty and staff members, and students, alongside representatives of ATCL, Rally Plus, and the Lebanese motorsport community.
The discussion offered students a closer look at the professional world of motorsport, highlighting the discipline, expertise, teamwork, and preparation behind the sport, as well as the wide opportunities it can create for young Lebanese talent.
A New Step in the UA–ATCL–Rally Plus Partnership
During Adrenaline Rush, UA, represented by Rector Fr. Michel Saghbiny; ATCL, represented by Mr. Lahoud; and Rally Plus, represented by Mr. Yazbeck, signed an appendix to the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) concluded between the three partners in November 2025, introducing a new component dedicated to documenting and archiving the history of motorsport in Lebanon.
Developed in collaboration with the Laboratoire des 3S : Sport, Santé, Société (L3S) at UA’s Faculty of Sport Sciences (FSS), this initiative seeks to collect, organize, preserve, and digitize historical documents, photographs, audiovisual material, results, records, and other resources related to Lebanese motorsport, thus constituting a pioneering step in archiving the motorsport history within the academia. The archive is envisioned as an academic, historical, and cultural resource for students, researchers, motorsport enthusiasts, and future generations.
The event also marked the announcement of the Rally Plus–Antonine University team, which will participate in the 2026 Rally of Lebanon aboard a UA-branded Citroën DS3 prepared and supported by Rally Plus, with Mr. Kanledjian as driver and Mr. Boudy Abi Nader as co-driver. Backed by Rally Plus’s technical, logistical, and organizational structure, the team provides a direct connection between the University community and the professional environment of one of Lebanon’s most prominent sporting events.
Motorsport as a Platform for Education and Responsibility
Beyond competition, the partnership positions motorsport as an educational and professional platform through which students can gain practical exposure to the many disciplines behind the sport, from engineering, mechanics, electronics, and data analysis to management, logistics, communications, media, marketing, sponsorship, event organization, safety, health, and physical therapy.
Through training and engagement with a professional motorsport environment, UA aims to help students explore career pathways and understand how academic knowledge can be applied in practice. The partnership also places particular emphasis on supporting young Lebanese talent and strengthening connections between students, athletes, professionals, and the wider motorsport sector.
Safety and awareness are equally central to the collaboration. The initiative seeks to demonstrate that motorsport is not about irresponsible speed, but rather a highly regulated sport built around discipline, technical preparation, training, safety procedures, and respect for regulations. It also aims to use motorsport as an educational tool to promote responsible driving and road-safety awareness, particularly among young people and university students.
Addressing the gathering, UA Rector Fr. Michel Saghbiny placed these objectives within the University’s broader educational mission, emphasizing that learning should extend beyond the classroom, opening its students to society and transforming knowledge into experience, experience into responsibility, and responsibility into service.
He highlighted motorsport as an environment where students from different disciplines can encounter professional practice while developing precision, teamwork, decision-making, discipline, and responsibility. He also stressed the social dimension of the initiative, particularly the need to promote road safety among young people, noting that speed should not be confused with recklessness and that skill must go hand in hand with discipline and respect for life.
Fr. Saghbiny further underlined the importance of preserving Lebanon’s motorsport heritage, viewing the new archive as a means of connecting past, present, and future by transforming sporting memory into knowledge and creating opportunities for learning, research, and professional development.
Through Adrenaline Rush, the motorsport archiving initiative, the Rally Plus–Antonine University Team, and future educational and training opportunities, UA’s partnership with ATCL and Rally Plus seeks to establish a sustainable link between academia and Lebanon’s motorsport sector, connecting education and professional practice with safety, youth development, competition, and heritage preservation, while contributing to the development of a new generation of Lebanese talent.