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Date of Birth: May 08, 1990
Nationality: Lebanese
Joe Ghanem, Lebanon's and Middle East's most promising young racing driver, has one target in mind: Becoming a World Class Driver. His passion, commitment and dedication to racing are clear signs of what lies ahead in a very competitive sport.
Joe did not have the opportunity to start racing at a younger age. This was due to the lack of motorsport culture and infrastructure in Lebanon and the Middle East combined, with lack of funding and sponsorship.
Joe competed in one season of karting in Lebanon and won the Lebanese Junior Karting Championship at the age of 14 in 2004. In 2006 he finished 3rd in the Middle East Thunder Arabia Series (Zip formula 1.6), collecting 6 podiums, 4 fastest laps, and 1 pole position.
In 2007 Joe became part of the A1 Team Lebanon driver development program, and competed in several races in Formula Renault across Europe, in preparation for a full season in 2008. Unfortunately, his season plans came to a halt due to lack of funding.
However Joe's passion for driving and will for success kept him going. In late 2008 & early 2009 Joe successfully participated in Hill Climb events and Rallies in his home country Lebanon, scoring a win in his debut Hill Climb event and an impressive 4th in his first ever rally.
He was able to return to single seater in mid 2009 thanks to a secured funding where he spent a few months testing Formula 3 cars across European circuits before taking part in the last two rounds of the Formula 3 UK series – National Class with Carlin Motorsports scoring three podiums.
On September 13, 2009 Joe became the first Lebanese to stand on a podium in single seater racing.
Again funding dictated his progress in single seater. In 2010 he was not able to secure a full budget to continue his F3 campaign, so he took part in a few rallies in the Lebanon and Jordan scoring a few podiums along the way. At the same time he shifted his racing to the UAE were he joined Gulf Sport for the 2010/2011 UAE GT Series.
Joe made an immediate impact in the UAE by finishing second in the Cytech UAE GTC Class in the opening race of the season. He followed that up with another two second places making it a hat-trick in the runner-up slot in his first three GTC races. He followed that up with another second place in Round 6 and his first win in the very next round. He had arrived and made his mark – and it was mission accomplished when he clinched the Cytech UAE GTC title in the final round.
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