Off-road racing legend Carlos Sainz has done it again. The 61-year-old Spaniard wrapped up the Car class victory for the fourth time at the Dakar Rally 2024 in Saudia Arabia, making history in the process.
Despite not winning a stage outright during this year's rally, the man known as 'El Matador' used all of his experience and know-how to cruise to a dominant victory over Belgian Guillaume de Mevius by 1h 20m 25s, with fellow WRC legend Sébastien Loeb a further nine minutes back in third place.
His fourth win in the world's toughest rally delivered Sainz two records at the finish line in Yanbu. He became the oldest-ever winner of the Dakar Rally and together with co-driver Lucas Cruz, he also delivered the first Dakar win for a hybrid car – Audi's revolutionary RS Q e-Tron E2. After debuting the car during the 2022 edition of Dakar, this year Sainz finally handed the German manufacturer victory in a race he described as the toughest challenge he's ever been involved in.
"It means a lot to me," Sainz said about his victory. “Audi believed in this special car and in this special concept. We never gave up.
"To be here at my age and to stay at the level, you need to do a lot of work beforehand. It doesn't just come like that," added Sainz, who won previous editions of the Dakar in 2010, 2018 and 2020. Each victory was achieved with a different manufacturer.
Now, at age 61, Sainz thinks his determination and discipline while preparing for the rally led to his victory: "It shows that when you work hard, normally it pays off. It’s not enough to be young, you have to prove yourself."
Greeting Sainz at the finish line to celebrate his historic win were his family; including his son, F1 driver Carlos Sainz Jr.
"So proud to see you at the top,” the Ferrari racer wrote on Instagram. “Winning Dakar Rally is not easy, but winning four is for absolute legends. To put a whole year’s work on the line in less than 15 days is for the brave and you have proved to be the bravest of all."
With his fourth win secured, Sainz now sits joint third in the all-time Dakar Rally winners' list for Cars, alongside fellow WRC legend Ari Vatanen, and just one win behind rival and friend Nasser Al-Attiyah, who retired from this year's race. We can't wait to see these two do battle again next year in the Saudi desert.
Find out more about Carlos Sainz's Dakar experiences in In the Dust below:
33 minGreat battles: Carlos Sainz vs Nasser Al-AttiyahNasser Al-Attiyah and Carlos Sainz join us to share a unique insight into their friendship and rivalry.
With your consent, this website shall use additional cookies (including third party cookies) or similar technologies to make our site work, for marketing purposes and to improve your online experience.
You can revoke your consent via the Cookie Settings in the footer of the website at any time. Further information can be found in our Privacy Policy and in the Cookie Settings directly below.
Privacy Preference Center
When you visit any website, it may store or retrieve information on your browser, mostly in the form of cookies. This information might be about you, your preferences or your device and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to. The information does not usually directly identify you, but it can give you a more personalized web experience. Because we respect your right to privacy, you can choose not to allow some types of cookies. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings. However, blocking some types of cookies may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer.
More information
Manage Consent Preferences
Strictly Necessary
Always Active
These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work. These cookies do not store any personally identifiable information.
Performance
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we will not know when you have visited our site, and will not be able to monitor its performance.
Third Party Content Cookies
These cookies may be set through our site by third-party providers of third-party content that is embedded on our site. They may be used by those companies to load, display, or in other ways to enable you to use that content. As this third-party content is provided by autonomous companies on their own responsibility, those companies may also use these cookies for their own additional purposes, such as marketing. Please refer to the privacy policies of those companies for that information. If you do not allow these cookies, you will not be able to use this third-party content embedded on our site, such as videos, music, or maps.