Biography Carlos Sainz

El Matador

Carlos Sainz is the ‘grand seigneur’ of international rallying. The Spaniard has been active at the wheel for over 40 years. Sainz has won the Dakar Rally three times, is a two-time World Rally champion and also won the World Cup of cross-country rallies once.

Standing still is not an option for Carlos Sainz. “Even right after a Dakar Rally, I already need to get moving again after a few days of rest.” Then he is off again on the bike at home in Madrid. And always flat out. “Despite my matured age, I still race and do everything else I enjoy with passion.”

Carlos Sainz turned 60 in 2022. Asked about this, he grins and says, “I’m still hungry”. And adds emphatically: “If I wasn’t, I wouldn’t accept this challenge that is very important to me: To try to win the Dakar Rally with Audi. It’s a fantastic and very challenging project.”

The experienced rally professional notes appreciatively how quickly the new project is moving in the right direction: “This year is different. We have the experience, we have a new car and good knowledge. That’s why the goal has to be different. Last year it was about carefully introducing the new technology. This year we hope to be able to race for victory. We have applied all our knowledge from the first rally and from everything we have learned this year. We have a good car that we can race for the win if the balance of performance allows it.”

The Spaniard does not see a single key to success – on the contrary. Four decades of teamwork have taught him to think holistically: “The challenge is the rally itself. These are very tough 13, 14 days. Every single day can bring a surprise. Something can happen, in navigation, in engineering. Everyone has to be good – in driving, in navigating, all the mechanics, the whole team organization. Everyone has to work perfectly so that we can really win.”

Challenges, that’s what Carlos Sainz’s life has been about from the start: “Challenges drive you. They make your brain work. To think about what you need to do to achieve your dreams.”

That’s why Sainz stopped studying law after two years. Driving a rally with all his might, that was and remained his big thing. He’s been doing that now since 1980, when he turned 18. “And it’s still a dream come true that I can still do what I love most professionally: drive a car,” he assures.

Carlos Sainz was a champion even before he won his first title on four wheels. “In 1979, I became the first Spanish champion in squash,” he notes. “If there is one sport that’s good for motorsport athletes, it’s squash: you have to be very fit, have fast reflexes, good coordination, good all-round vision and be quick in your thinking.” He still swings a racket regularly today. Sainz also enjoys playing tennis and golf very much and very well.

Carlos Sainz has worked and won for many car manufacturers. “But, being part of Audi today really means a lot to me,” he says. His road to the collaboration with the brand with the four rings, which started in 2021, was a long one. “I was a young rally driver and a total fan when Audi entered with its quattro in the early 1980s and became World Rally champions very quickly with this new technology of permanent all-wheel drive, setting new standards.”

Carlos Sainz sees Audi’s Dakar project as a similar pioneering act: “Back then, they were the first with quattro, now they’re the first with an electric powertrain.” The three-time Dakar winner describes the prospects of Audi’s involvement as follows: “Audi’s engineers have a lot of technical freedom at the Dakar Rally. There, they can design their car much more freely in many areas when compared to many other, significantly more restrictive motorsport championships.”

“My father impresses me a lot. He is still very active.” That’s what Carlos Sainz jr says. The son of the Spanish rally legend is a motorsport enthusiast himself and has been racing in Formula 1 since 2015. “What you see of me there today is in many ways what I learned from my father,” he admits. Sainz junior offers another interesting insight into family life: “As a child, I wasn’t even aware of how successful and how big my father is in motorsport.”

The senior only wants to decide for himself whether to stop racing. Wife Reyes, who met Carlos Sainz at 18 and married him at 30, also accepts his big new challenge with Audi. “It makes me very proud to help Audi win the Dakar for the first time,” says Carlos Sainz. “And if I even manage to do that as a driver, then that will be my ultimate goal.”

Biography
Carlos Sainz (E)

Date of birth: April 12, 1962
Place of birth: Madrid (E)
Place of residence: Madrid (E)
Marital status: married to Reyes Vázquez de Castro Rincón, two daughters (Blanca and Ana), one son (Carlos)
Height/weight: 1.77 m/ 84 kg
Motorsport since: 1980 (Audi driver since 2021)

Career as a driver:

1980–1986 Rallies in Spain and Europe
1987 35th place World Rally Championship
1988 11th place World Rally Championship
1989 8th place World Rally Championship
1990 1st place World Rally Championship
1991 2nd place World Rally Championship
1992 1st place World Rally Championship
1994 2nd place World Rally Championship
1995 2nd place World Rally Championship
1996 3rd place World Rally Championship
1997 3rd place World Rally Championship, 1st place Race of Champions
1998 2nd place World Rally Championship
2000 3rd place World Rally Championship
2002 3rd place World Rally Championship
2003 3rd place World Rally Championship
2005 3rd place Baja Portalegre 500
2006 Dakar Rally
2007 1st place FIA World Cup Cross Country Rallies
2008 1st place Central Europe Rally, 14th place 24 hours Nürburgring
2009 Dakar Rally, 1st place Silk Way Rally, 1st place Rally dos Sertoes
2010 1st place Dakar Rally, 1st place Silk Way Rally
2011 3rd place Dakar Rally
2013 Dakar Rally
2014 Dakar Rally
2015 Dakar Rally
2016 Dakar Rally
2017 Dakar Rally
2018 1st place Dakar Rally
2019 13th place Dakar Rally, 2nd place Morocco Rally, 2nd place Baja Sharqiyah
2020 1st place Dakar Rally, 2nd place Baja Hail 1, 1st place Baja Hail 2
2021 3rd place Dakar Rally, Extreme E, Audi Dakar Project
2022 12th place Dakar Rally (Audi RS Q e-tron), 3rd place Extreme E

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