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Carlos Sainz Sr. won the Dakar Rally for a whopping fourth time on Friday (January 19) and became the oldest driver at 61 to do so, breaking his older record.
His skills in rallying are adept, which also helped him to become a two-time WRC world champion back in 1990 and 1992. However, his life has held on to a lot more other than racing.
Born in Madrid, Spain, Carlos Sainz Cenamor's interest in sports was never limited to racing and motorsports. He was also an ace squash player and a footballer. During his teen years, Real Madrid had given him a trial and by the time he turned 16, he was already the Spanish squash champion. While he still focused on these sports more, he got his first chance at motorsports with Formula Ford.
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Carlos Sainz Sr. made his rally debut in 1980 and six years after that, he was the runner-up of the Spanish Rally Championship in 1986. He raced in WRC for the first time in 1987, driving a Ford Sierra RS Cosworth, where he finished only 35th with seven points. He then started racing for Toyota in 1988 and won his first championship two years later with 140 points.
In 1991, the Spaniard failed to defend his earlier championship. A year later, he won his final WRC world championship, again with a Toyota. He was a part of other teams like Lancia, Subaru and Citroen as well before finally retiring in 2005.
The following year in 2006, Carlos Sainz made his Dakar Rally debut, where he has since won four times; 2008, 2010, 2020, and 2023.
Carlos Sainz's achievements in motorsports
Ever since debuting in 1980, the Spaniard has made a remarkable presence in motorsports, especially rallying. Up until now, he has taken part in 196 rallies and won 26 of them.
Adding to that are 97 podiums and a total of 1,242 points. The 2004 Rally Argentina was Sainz's final victory and the Acropolis Rally of the following year marked his final rally.
Sainz Sr. has 11 titles to his name, which are:
His victory in the 2024 Dakar Rally (without a single stage win) proved his skills even at the age of 61. He broke the record for the oldest driver to win the series, which was earlier set by him in 2020.
While he continues to race in high spirits, his son, Carlos Sainz Jr. has been making his way through Formula 1. Currently racing with Scuderia Ferrari, he has been the winner of two Grands Prix; the 2022 British GP and 2023 Singapore GP. The latter was a remarkable victory, as it was the only race to be won by a non-Red Bull driver throughout the 2023 F1 season.
