Carlos Sainz has taken over his fourth Dakar. The 2024 edition has been the toughest contested in Saudi Arabia and one of the toughest in recent years. The veteran driver (61 years old) has covered a Dakar in which he has been an example of resistance and patience. Finally, he has managed to win first place in the toughest raid rally in the world.
In this 2024 edition, Carlos Sainz has given a lesson in knowing how to be, accompanied by a team that has also been key in the final result. The Spaniard has always remained in the first positions but has known how to play his cards so as not to have to open the track at any time, always close to the first positions.
In the sixth stage, Sainz rose to the top of the general classification, where he has continued to manage his efforts, seeing how all his rivals They were gradually falling out of favor. Along the way he left Stéphane Peterhansel, the local Yazeed Al-Rajhi, Nasser Al-Attiyah and, finally, Sébastien Loeb, who pushed the Spaniard until the last big stage.
The Spaniard’s strategy was clear: be as regular as possible. This allowed him not to have to open the track but also not to push as hard as possible to reduce time and positions in the general classification, as Loeb has had to battle until the last day. In the greatest moment of crisis, Mattias Ekström and Stéphane Peterhansel escorted the Spaniard perfectly, like his teammates.
A victory that reaffirms him as one of the best
Carlos Sainz is one of those Spanish sports figures who is most recognized outside Spain than within our borders. Obviously, the World Rally Championship fan will not discover Carlos Sainz now but there has been so much talk about his bad luck that, for the general public, the Spaniard does not seem to be recognized for what he is: one of the great figures of world motorsport.
It has happened to Carlos Sainz like to Severiano Ballesteros and, even in a hurry, to Pau Gasol. Taking advantage of the Covid-19 break, the WRC organization decided to entertain its fans with the classic confrontation between drivers to determine who was the best driver in the history of the championship. The Spaniard beat Sébastien Loeb with 57.28% of the votes.
Also for readers of Autosport Carlos Sainz is one of the biggest. In their polls, only Walter Röhrl, Colin McRae and Loeb surpassed the Spaniard. In this type of vote, it is easy to doubt the result but if we want opinions from within the WRC, we have a choice. In 2012, however, he was inducted into the WRC Hall of Fame, a tribute that took place during Rally Finland, where he was the first non-Nordic driver to win the championship.
Celebrating 50 years of the championship, Motorsport.comalong with Jari-Matti Latvala (WRC driver for almost 20 years), Malcolm Wilson (former driver, founder of M-Sport and director of the Ford World Rally Team, with which he was constructors’ champion in 2006 and 2007) and Christian Loriaux (one of the most famous technical figures in the WRC), chose Carlos Sainz as the third best driver in the history of the WRC, behind Sébastien Ogier and ‘Seb’ Loeb.
Louriaux described the Spaniard as the “most professional of all” pilots, highlighting that he was also “the one with whom I learned the most.” Wilson, for his part, assures that Sainz “had drive, passion and determination. He paid a lot of attention to detail and made very few mistakes, he wasn’t as naturally talented as Juha Kankkunen and Colin McRae, but he worked really hard to achieve what he achieved.”
And what he got is not debatable. In number of championships, Sainz is tied with Röhrl, “Miki” Biasion, Marcus Grönholm and Kalle Rovanperä as two-time WRC world champions. Up front they have Tommi Mäkinen and Juha Kankkunen as tetrachampions. Legitimate are the eight championships of Sébastien Ogier and the nine titles of Sébastien Loeb.
But, furthermore, if something characterizes Sainz’s legacy in the WRC, it was his ability to adapt to all surfaces and be combative (and emerge victorious) on all types of terrain. Between his achievements:
- Two WRC world championships.
- Second driver with the most points in WRC history (1242 points).
- Second driver who has competed in the most WRC events (196).
- Third driver with the most victories in the WRC (26).
- Second driver with the most podiums in the WRC (97).
- Second driver with the most different rallies won in the WRC (13).
- Third driver with the most stages won in the WRC (756).
- First non-Nordic driver to win in Finland, after 40 years of competing in this event.
And this is the record in the WRC. Because with this new Dakar, Carlos Sainz gets his fourth Touareg. We are talking about him going directly in to fight with the great specialists in history.
With this fourth Dakar Rally champion title, Carlos Sainz ties with Ari Vatanen. Only Nasser Al-Attiyah, with five victories, and Stéphane Peterhansel, with eight (in cars) surpass them in their specialty. The Spaniard also adds two more podiums and is now the fourth driver with the most stage wins in cars (42). This year, however, he has demonstrated the importance of consistency in a rally as tough as the Dakar.
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Photos | Carlos Sainz and Dakar