Carlos Sainz Sr.
Spanish rally legend, two-time WRC champion and Dakar winner.
via Wikipedia: Carlos Sainz Sr. · see source
Carlos Sainz Cenamor (born 12 April 1962) is a Spanish rally driver. He won the World Rally Championship drivers' title with Toyota in 1990 and 1992, and finished runner-up four times. Constructors' world champions to have benefited from Sainz are Subaru (1995), Toyota (1993) and Citroën (2004, 2005 and 2006). In the 2018 season, he was one of the official drivers of the Team Peugeot Total. He received the Princess of Asturias Sports Award in 2020. Sainz founded the Acciona | Sainz XE Team to join Extreme E and competed in the first two seasons alongside Laia Sanz.
Quick Facts
- Status
- Retired from competitive rallying; former brand ambassador and test driver
Lore & Background
Nicknamed El-Matador, Sainz previously held the WRC record for most career starts until Finnish co-driver Miikka Anttila broke the record. He was also the first non-Nordic driver to win the 1000 Lakes Rally in Finland. He came close to repeating the feat at the Swedish Rally, finishing second four times and third twice. Alongside his WRC successes, he has won the Dakar Rally (2010, 2018, 2020), the Race of Champions (1997) and the Asia-Pacific Rally Championship (1990). His co-drivers were Antonio Boto, Luis Moya, Marc Martí, and Lucas Cruz.
Reader's Guide
Sainz was born in Madrid. Before moving into motorsport, he played football and squash. At the age of 11, he got his first driving experience in his sister Carmen's newly bought SEAT 600. As a teenager, Real Madrid gave him a trial and in squash he was the Spanish champion at the age of 16. While on a road trip organized with some friends to the Alps, Sainz demonstrated his early driving skills in his friend's and later to be first co-pilot Juanjo Lacalle's SEAT 131 on the snow-capped mountain roads, that the latter impressed promised him he would be the co-pilot in his first race. Sainz got his first touch of motorsport in Formula Ford while still playing squash and football. Before dedicating himself to motorsport, Sainz studied law up to the second scheduled cycle.
Did You Know?
- Sainz began rallying in 1980 and won his first Rally Championship in 1981 in the 'Copa Panda' series.
- He finished runner-up in the Spanish Rally Championship in 1986 and won it in 1987 and 1988.
- Sainz drove for Toyota from 1989 to 1992, winning the drivers' title in 1990 and 1992.
- He moved to Lancia in 1993, then to Subaru from 1994 to 1995, helping develop the Impreza.
- Sainz returned to Ford for the 1996 and 1997 seasons.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Carlos Sainz Sr.?
He is a Spanish rally driver who claimed the WRC drivers' championship in 1990 and 1992 during the Group A era. He is widely regarded as one of the most complete and consistent competitors the world championship has ever produced.
Why is Carlos Sainz nicknamed 'El Matador'?
The nickname stuck because his approach to a stage resembled a bullfighter's — calm, deliberate, and surgically precise rather than wildly aggressive. Fans and journalists latched onto the image of a Spanish matador dancing around a bull to describe his smooth, controlled pace on gravel, tarmac, and snow alike.
What car is Carlos Sainz Sr. most famous for?
The Toyota Celica GT-Four is essentially his signature machine, as he claimed both of his world titles in that car. His partnership with Toyota's factory programme in the late 1980s and early 1990s became one of the defining driver-car combinations in WRC history.
How did Carlos Sainz's driving style differ from his rivals?
Where contemporaries could be more overtly aggressive, Sainz built his reputation on rhythm, car feel, and protecting the machinery over long stages. His mechanical sympathy often made him look 'slow' in a single stage, yet he was consistently fast across an entire rally weekend.
What did Carlos Sainz Sr. do after leaving competitive WRC?
After his final competitive seasons with Audi and Subaru in the mid-1990s, he transitioned into Spanish television as a motorsport presenter and commentator. He remains a familiar face on Spanish rally coverage to this day.
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