N°204 Car TEAM AUDI SPORT

CARLOS SAINZ

(esp) 1.79m / 80kg

Hobbies

Fútbol, golf, squash (campeón de España en 1978), tenis, esquí

Sponsors

Audi, Red Bull.

2023: Coche/Abandono en la etapa 10 (1 victoria de etapa)
2022: Coche/12º (2 victorias de etapa)
2021: Coche/ 3º (3 victorias de etapa)
2020: Coche/ 1º (4 victorias de etapa)
2019: Coche/ 13º (1 victoria de etapa)
2018: Coche/ 1º (2 victorias de etapa)
2017: Coche/ Abandono en la 4ª etapa
2016: Coche/ Abandono en la 10º etapa (2 victorias de etapa)
2015: Coche/ Abandono en la 5ª etapa
2014: Coche/ Abandono en la 10ª etapa (2 victorias de etapa)
2013: Coche/ Abandono en la etapa 6 (1 victoria de etapa)
2011: Coche/ 3º (7 victorias de etapa)
2010: Coche/ 1º (2 victorias de etapa)
2009: Coche/Abandono en la 12ª etapa (6 victorias de etapa)
2007: Coche/ 9º (5 victorias de etapa)
2006: Coche/ 11º (4 victorias de etapa)

2023: 3º en la Baja Aragón (categoría Open); 22º en el Rally de Marruecos
2022: 1º en el Rally de Marruecos (categoría Open); 3º en la Extreme E
2021: 2º en el Rally Andalucía; 7º en la Extreme E
2020: 2º en el Rally Andalucía
2019: 2º en el Rally de Marruecos
2018: 26º en el Rally de Marruecos
2010: 1º en el Silk Way Rally (2 victorias de etapa, Volkswagen Race Touareg 2)
2009: 1º en el Rally dos Sertoes y 1º en el Silk Way Rally (6 victorias de etapa, Volkswagen Race Touareg 2)
2008: 1º del Rally Central Europeo y 14º en las 24 horas de Nürburgring
2007: Campeón de la Copa del Mundo de Rallies Cross Country; 2º en el UAE Desert Challenge, 2º en el Rally de Marruecos y 2º en el UAE Rally (5 victorias de etapa, Volkswagen Race Touareg)
2005: 3º en la Baja Portalegre
2003: 3º en el Campeonato del Mundo de Rallies WRC
2002: 3º en el Campeonato del Mundo de Rallies WRC
1997: 1º en la Carrera de Campeones
1991, 1994, 1995 y 1998: Subcampeón del Mundo de Rallies WRC
1990 y 1992: Campeón del Mundo de Rallies WRC

Interview

“This year, or never”

Sixty-one-year-old Carlos Sainz has lost none of his trademark competitive spirit. The twice world rally champion from Madrid (1990 and 1992), who marked an era in the discipline, is looking for his fourth Dakar victory (2010, 2018 and 2020) and wants to do it in style: becoming the first driver to do it with a vehicle powered by electric motors and a range extender (3 MGU05s from Formula E and a TFSI 2.0 engine from the DTM). But this year is like a farewell and a last chance to make history, as Audi Sport will compete in its third and final Dakar as a factory team following its new venture into Formula 1 for the 2026 season. Sainz is a genuine reference in rallying circles, although his sporting beginnings began in a very different discipline, squash. He was the Spanish champion at the age of 16. His obsession with detail and perfection are two traits that have always defined him since he started racing a rally car. In fact, it was his competitive spirit that made a mark on a generation of fans with his two WRC titles and 26 championship victories. In a vote on the official World Rally Championship website in 2020, fans from around the world voted him the greatest ever, ahead of even nine-time World Rally Champion Sébastien Loeb. Sainz's desert adventures began in 2006 with Volkswagen, where he competed in the last two editions of the Dakar in Africa. However, it was not until 2010, in South America, that he and his inseparable co-driver Lucas Cruz enjoyed lifting the famous Touareg trophy into the sky. They repeated the feat with Peugeot in 2018 and Mini X-Raid in 2020. In2023, after recovering from the two fractured vertebrae he suffered on last year's Dakar, he has competed in the Baja Aragon and Morocco Rally, as well as logging several thousand test kilometres in the Audi RS Q e-tron E2 and serving as team boss of his own Extreme E team. The regulations have given the Audi Sport team 15kW (20bhp) more power than its main rivals, although they will still be around 100 kg heavier than the Toyota and Prodrive 4x4s. Sainz and Cruz look forward to providing the coup de grace to the German manufacturer's unique and difficult-to-repeat project. It will be their 10th Dakar together, and they will seek their fourth Touareg with a fourth different manufacturer. "El Matador" isn't ready to hang up his helmet and wants to continue to add to his legacy.


C.S.: “We are approaching this Dakar knowing that it will be the last year for Audi Sport, that it is this year or never. We are eager to win for the team and the brand. After what we experienced last year, we hope to be more competitive with the extra kW given to us by the FIA, although we are still 100 kg heavier than our rivals. Even so, I'm confident we can fight head-to-head with them.”
“Due to the project's complexity, we knew it would take a little longer than three years to achieve victory. But we have been working as hard as we can since just before the summer, especially on the suspension, to avoid having the problems we had last January. It won't be easy. But I think we can fight for the win and from the start race with the Toyotas and Prodrive. In that sense, we think we should be more competitive than last year. I don't think it's my last dance. We'll see if there is a project that excites me in the future. I always analyse the race when I go home and will continue to do so.”


L.C.: “The objective is the same as always: to try to win, but we know it won't be easy. We have based our preparation for the Dakar on solving the small problems we have been having during testing and last January. The team has worked 100% to have a competitive car within the regulations. The main handicap we will have when fighting for victory will be the weight, which will affect us not only in acceleration but also in braking, cornering and on rough terrain. But the energy and the desire to achieve a historic victory are there, and we are all extremely motivated. I am privileged to continue doing what I like and at the highest level with Carlos. We are only thinking about victory and are going for it”.

Vehicle

TEAM AUDI SPORT

AUDI RS Q E-TRON E2
TEAM AUDI SPORT

  • AUDI
  • RS Q E-TRON E2
  • Audi Sport
  • Audi Sport
  • T1.U: "Ultimate" Prototype Cross-Country Cars

Ranking 2024

All news of C. Sainz

Summary - 19/01 17:53 [GMT +3]

Dakar 2024: Brabec and Sainz, masters of the dunes

The 46th edition of the Dakar, the 5th to be organised in Saudi Arabia, has finished after more than 4,700 kilometres of specials and a total distance of almost 8,000 kilometres, which tested the riders, drivers, co-pilots and crews, from the ancient city of AlUla to the shores of the Red Sea, passing through the oceans of dunes in the Empty Quarter. The major winners of the 2024...

Reactions - 19/01 12:10 [GMT +3] - Car

Carlos Sainz: “To finish and to win this race, I’m so happy for Audi”

By winning his 4th title on the Dakar, the first for Audi, Carlos Sainz joins Ari Vatanen in the rally winners’ roll of honour, with Al Attiyah and his 5 victories plus Peterhansel and his 8 car trophies remain ahead of him.

“It means that when you work hard and you believe in yourself, when you have a good team and good people around...

News - 19/01 10:22 [GMT +3]

Dakar 2024 - Stage 12 | All the results

RALLY GP | KEVIN BENAVIDES WINS THE LAST STAGE

Kevin Benavides has produced the best time on the last special. The winner of last year’s edition of the Dakar has picked up his third stage success of the year by 1 minute in front of his team-mate Toby Price and 1’14’’ ahead of his brother Luciano.

QUAD | NUMBER 2 FOR...

Summary - 18/01 18:48 [GMT +3]

Brabec and Sainz show who’s boss

FOCUS

The terrain proves decisive! With more than 4,700 kilometres of specials over two weeks of racing, it is still possible to predict where the victory will be won. The dunes of the Empty Quarter definitely played an important role, while the volcanic stones on the first stage also played a part. Indeed, we could list the damage recorded on each of the stages in one...

Reactions - 18/01 16:48 [GMT +3] - Car

Carlos Sainz: “If the gap is one hour, then I don’t need to rush”

Carlos Sainz, who finished third today, is more importantly free from the threat posed by Sébastien Loeb, who lost time on the special. The Spaniard can now look forward to the last stage with peace of mind.

“For us it was fine, we had one puncture, a slow puncture close to the finish. After we caught Seb, we drove carefully. It was...

Summary - 17/01 17:25 [GMT +3]

Dakar 2024 - Stage 10 | When the going gets tough, the tough get going

FOCUS

Fresh memories never lie. Seeing the loop carved out near AlUla, starting and finishing at the bivouac where everyone had gathered less than two weeks ago, it was a given that this special was going to be a wild ride. The timed sector stretched for 371 kilometres on sandy terrain with a need for speed, either on the track or off-track, sometimes through rocky areas,...

Reactions - 17/01 14:42 [GMT +3] - Car

Carlos Sainz: "I was running out of tyres"

The overall leader, Carlos Sainz, saw his lead over Loeb dwindle to just 13 minutes after losing 7 minutes in the antepenultimate stage.

"I lost seven minutes or eight minutes. I had to wait for Mattias because I was running out of tyres."

Newsflashes - 17/01 13:00 [GMT +3] - Car

Sainz comes to a halt

Carlos Sainz has been stationary at km 248 for over 10 minutes. Mattias Ekström is already on the scene and Stéphane Peterhansel is expected to get there any minute now. Meanwhile, Loeb has already blazed past km 264.

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