Carlos Sainz Sr.

Not to be confused with his son, Carlos Sainz Jr..
In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Sainz and the second or maternal family name is Cenamor.

Carlos Sainz
Sainz in 2014
Personal information
NationalitySpain Spanish
Full nameCarlos Sainz Cenamor
Born (1962-04-12) 12 April 1962 (age 62)
Madrid, Spain
World Rally Championship record
Active years1987–2005
Co-driverSpain Antonio Boto
Spain Luis Moya
Spain Marc Marti
TeamsFord, Toyota, Lancia, Subaru, Citroën
Rallies196
Championships2 (1990, 1992)
Rally wins26
Podiums97
Stage wins757[1]
Total points1,242
First rally1987 Rally Portugal
First win1990 Acropolis Rally
Last win2004 Rally Argentina
Last rally2005 Acropolis Rally

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 (1999) and Citroën (2003, 2004 and 2005). In the 2018 season, he was one of the official drivers of the Team Peugeot Total.[2] He received the Princess of Asturias Sports Award in 2020.[3] Sainz founded the Acciona | Sainz XE Team to join Extreme E and competed in the first two seasons alongside Laia Sanz.

Nicknamed El Matador, Sainz previously held the WRC record for most career starts until Finnish co-driver Miikka Anttila broke the record.[4] 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, 2024), 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.

  1. ^ According to World Rally Archive, Sainz won 756 stages. Sainz also won one special stage in Safari Rally 1991 (source: Auto Hebdo), that is not yet taken into account by www.juwra.com.
  2. ^ "Team Peugeot Total - The team". redbull.com. Archived from the original on 22 January 2018. Retrieved 21 January 2018.
  3. ^ "Carlos Sainz, premio Princesa de Asturias de los deportes". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). 16 June 2020. Archived from the original on 2 July 2020. Retrieved 2 July 2020.
  4. ^ "Record-breaker Anttila". Archived from the original on 13 April 2019. Retrieved 13 April 2018.