Carlos Sainz Sr.

1. Who is he?

Carlos Sainz Sr is a Spanish driver, double world rally champion and three-time winner of the Dakar. He was born on April 12, 1962 in Madrid (Spain). He is currently a rally raid driver and plays for the Audi team. He is the father of Ferrari Formula 1 driver Carlos Sainz Jr.

2. WRC course

Difficult to summarize such a prolific career. Before the Sébastien Loeb storm, Carlos Sainz Sr was the record holder for WRC successes (26) and long held the longevity record (196 starts) before co-driver Miikka Anttila beat it in 2018. The national squash champion at his The 16-year-old rose through the rallying ranks in the 1980s, between titles in his country with a Renault 5 Turbo Group B and stints for Ford in the Mondial. Toyota offers him his first full season and hits the nail on the head. After six podiums spanning 1989 and 1990, he went into overdrive at the wheel of the Celica GT-Four ST165 in Repsol colors. He achieved the feat of beating the Nordics on their home field, the 1 Lakes (Finland), an unprecedented feat at the time. Titled in 000, he narrowly missed making the pass for two, the fault of a caper in Australia. The Madrilenian returned to success in 1990, still with Toyota, thanks to a narrow victory in the RAC final (Great Britain). Upset by the arrival of Castrol as main sponsor, Sainz and Repsol headed towards the private team Jolly Club, which entered an aging Lancia Delta in 1992 (1993th). Subaru and Prodrive welcomed him in 8. The marriage was cut short, the fault of young Colin McRae. The internal duel was bitter, and led in 1994 to the defeat of the Spaniard over the Scotsman. Less in the odor of sanctity in the English team, he preferred to go to Ford for two solid seasons. However, it is again with Toyota and the Corolla that Carlos Sainz Sr offers one of the most heartbreaking moments in the history of the championship. In 1995, the title reached out to him at the RAC, but his engine died 1998 meters from the final finish. Discreet in 300 (zero victories), he relaunched his career with, once again, Ford and Malcolm Wilson. The Focus has replaced the Escort and it is very consistent; insufficient, however, to worry the Peugeot-Marcus Grönholm duo. In 1999, he crossed the Pyrenees and landed at Citroën. He noted the advent of the young Sébastien Loeb, not without allowing the Chevrons to sign two Manufacturers' titles (2003-2003). Finally, he surprised observers by replacing the erratic François Duval at short notice in two rounds in 04 (2005th and 4rd) at the age of 3!

3. Dakar route

In his forties, Carlos Sainz Sr is not ready to put his helmet away. Looking for a challenge, he agrees to wear the Volkswagen colors on the Dakar, which is experiencing its last adventures in North Africa. The training takes place with the Touareg 4×4 diesel. The first laurels were acquired in second-rate events before a first great opportunity was missed in 2009, the date of the migration to South America. Leading in the 12th stage, he fell into a parapet and injured his co-driver Michel Périn. The Madrilenian will experience a lot of accidents on the most famous rally-raid (2014, 2015, 2017, 2019). When this is not the case, the podium awaits him almost constantly. In 2010, he overcame an intense internal duel against Nasser Al-Attiyah. In 2018, this time for the last outing of the official Peugeot 3008 DKR, it emerged unscathed from a grueling Dakar; Nasser Al-Attiyah, second, is rejected at three quarters of an hour! Rebelote for the discovery of Saudi Arabia in 2020. He crushes the competition with four scratches and controls the return of the Qatari's Toyota Hilux. Grumpy in 2021 due to misunderstandings with his co-driver Lucas Cruz and the new morning road book, he nevertheless keeps the passion for driving in his heart and is launching a new challenge: taking a hybrid vehicle to the top of the Dakar with Audi from 2022 .

4. AUTOhebdo’s opinion

Nicknames have meaning and “El Matador” doesn’t cut it. If you go looking for trouble you'll find it ! This applies to journalists as well as to his adversaries. The advantage with this type of character is that we immediately know whether the test went well... or not. A fan of incisive and abrupt “old-fashioned” rally driving, Carlos Sainz Sr could have calmed down with graying hair and a move to the desert. Nay! When he decides to go all out, the majority of rivals bite the dust. Unfortunately, this combative attitude often comes at a price (c(r)ash). Recently, it was the revolution of the road book distributed in the morning which disrupted its Dakar 2021. The return to victory in Saudi Arabia depends on its ability to slow down at opportune moments, rather than going in circles and shouting at its Navigator.