Carlos Sainz reminded the world of his class with an extraordinary victory on the Dakar Rally
Type the name 'Carlos Sainz' into your favourite search engine, and you're greeted with facts, information and images of Carlos Jr - the Ferrari Formula 1 driver.
Should that make me sad? Probably not. But does it? As an individual with a pretty public love of all things rallying, it does a little. Not because I have any disliking towards Carlos Jr or Formula 1 - in fact it's the opposite as F1 is one of the few common interests me and my girlfriend have - but because I am worried the next generation won't be aware of his father's legacy.
Worse still, they maybe won't even know Carlos Sr is a motorsport legend in his own right.
Today has put that right.
Motorsport figures far and wide were drawn onto social media to laud 'El Matador'. At 61 years old, Carlos (and co-driver Lucas Cruz) won their fourth ever Dakar, signing off Audi's tenure at the iconic endurance event in mesmerising fashion.
Did Sainz need to win the 2024 Dakar to cement his place in history? Of course he didn't. His two World Rally Championship titles, 26 rally victories at world level and three previous Dakar triumphs (each for different manufacturers) had done that for him.
But in the same way that Sebastien Loeb didn't need to win a WRC rally with a team other than Citroen, a decade on from his full-time retirement at the 2022 Rallye Monte Carlo, performances like this only serve to enhance a driver's legacy and remind the world of their permanent class.
Sainz, so often the understated and almost forgotten man, got his shot in the limelight once more - and it was nothing short of deserved after a typically classy and composed drive. He didn't win a single stage, yet he won the rally by over an hour.
What astounds me is Sainz's dedication and commitment to the cause. Throughout his long and esteemed WRC career, he quickly became recognised as one of the most consummate professionals - prepared to put in the hours to perfect things perhaps more than any of his peers.
Credit: ewrc-results.com
This allowed him to move the goalposts, becoming, for example, the first non Scandinavian to win Rally Finland back in 1990; astonishingly achieved despite Sainz nursing an injured foot after a crash on the recce!
Post claiming two world titles in three years with Toyota, it would've seemed unthinkable at the time that the Spaniard would never lift the trophy again after 1992. He would of course come perilously close on numerous occasions, not least in 1998 where his Corolla's engine famously gave up within sight of the season's final finish-line.
His world rallying adventure ended two decades ago now, but his competitive spirit has lived on through rally-raid. Some are just born to do it, but Sainz's longevity is startling. Breaking his own record to become the oldest winner of the gruelling 15-day Dakar Rally this year is testament to that.
"To be here at my age and to stay at the level, you need to work a lot beforehand. It doesn't just come like that," Sainz said.
"It shows that when you work hard, normally it pays off."
There was a beautiful sniff of nostalgia about Sainz's route to victory, as he had to fend off an inventive Loeb, who was trying everything to win his first ever Dakar including deliberately missing a waypoint to earn himself what he felt would be an advantage on the 48-hour stage.
There aren't many driver parallels where Loeb could be considered the student of the relationship, but Sainz is very much seen as the master thanks to the pair's two years at Citroen in the WRC as Sainz's career was ending and Loeb's just beginning.
In the end, suspension damage wrecked Loeb's victory bid and he had to settle for third.
Like Sainz, the nine-time World Rally champion's legacy in world motorsport is beyond question, but given 2024 was his eighth attempt at it, the Dakar remains an elusive prize missing from Loeb's CV.
It's made all the more galling by the fact Loeb has won in everything else he's done. Obviously, he's won in rallying. Even when he left it and came back for fun, he proved he could still win. But he also won in World Touring Cars (on his very first race weekend in fact), won GT3 races the year before that and although he never quite snared the title, he won several races in World Rallycross too.
The Dakar? Well it hasn't been for the want of trying, and it's not as if Loeb hasn't won other events in the World Rally-Raid Championship - or that he can't win the Dakar next year with Dacia. But it's starting to look like the one that might get away.
Type the name 'Carlos Sainz' into your favourite search engine, and you're greeted with facts, information and images of Carlos Jr - the Ferrari Formula 1 driver.
Should that make me sad? Probably not. But does it? As an individual with a pretty public love of all things rallying, it does a little. Not because I have any disliking towards Carlos Jr or Formula 1 - in fact it's the opposite as F1 is one of the few common interests me and my girlfriend have - but because I am worried the next generation won't be aware of his father's legacy.
Worse still, they maybe won't even know Carlos Sr is a motorsport legend in his own right.
Today has put that right.
Motorsport figures far and wide were drawn onto social media to laud 'El Matador'. At 61 years old, Carlos (and co-driver Lucas Cruz) won their fourth ever Dakar, signing off Audi's tenure at the iconic endurance event in mesmerising fashion.
Did Sainz need to win the 2024 Dakar to cement his place in history? Of course he didn't. His two World Rally Championship titles, 26 rally victories at world level and three previous Dakar triumphs (each for different manufacturers) had done that for him.
But in the same way that Sebastien Loeb didn't need to win a WRC rally with a team other than Citroen, a decade on from his full-time retirement at the 2022 Rallye Monte Carlo, performances like this only serve to enhance a driver's legacy and remind the world of their permanent class.
Sainz, so often the understated and almost forgotten man, got his shot in the limelight once more - and it was nothing short of deserved after a typically classy and composed drive. He didn't win a single stage, yet he won the rally by over an hour.
What astounds me is Sainz's dedication and commitment to the cause. Throughout his long and esteemed WRC career, he quickly became recognised as one of the most consummate professionals - prepared to put in the hours to perfect things perhaps more than any of his peers.
This allowed him to move the goalposts, becoming, for example, the first non Scandinavian to win Rally Finland back in 1990; astonishingly achieved despite Sainz nursing an injured foot after a crash on the recce!
Post claiming two world titles in three years with Toyota, it would've seemed unthinkable at the time that the Spaniard would never lift the trophy again after 1992. He would of course come perilously close on numerous occasions, not least in 1998 where his Corolla's engine famously gave up within sight of the season's final finish-line.
His world rallying adventure ended two decades ago now, but his competitive spirit has lived on through rally-raid. Some are just born to do it, but Sainz's longevity is startling. Breaking his own record to become the oldest winner of the gruelling 15-day Dakar Rally this year is testament to that.
"To be here at my age and to stay at the level, you need to work a lot beforehand. It doesn't just come like that," Sainz said.
"It shows that when you work hard, normally it pays off."
There was a beautiful sniff of nostalgia about Sainz's route to victory, as he had to fend off an inventive Loeb, who was trying everything to win his first ever Dakar including deliberately missing a waypoint to earn himself what he felt would be an advantage on the 48-hour stage.
There aren't many driver parallels where Loeb could be considered the student of the relationship, but Sainz is very much seen as the master thanks to the pair's two years at Citroen in the WRC as Sainz's career was ending and Loeb's just beginning.
In the end, suspension damage wrecked Loeb's victory bid and he had to settle for third.
Like Sainz, the nine-time World Rally champion's legacy in world motorsport is beyond question, but given 2024 was his eighth attempt at it, the Dakar remains an elusive prize missing from Loeb's CV.
It's made all the more galling by the fact Loeb has won in everything else he's done. Obviously, he's won in rallying. Even when he left it and came back for fun, he proved he could still win. But he also won in World Touring Cars (on his very first race weekend in fact), won GT3 races the year before that and although he never quite snared the title, he won several races in World Rallycross too.
The Dakar? Well it hasn't been for the want of trying, and it's not as if Loeb hasn't won other events in the World Rally-Raid Championship - or that he can't win the Dakar next year with Dacia. But it's starting to look like the one that might get away.
Not for Sainz. Not this year; not ever.
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