Dakar Rally 2024: Carlos Sainz wins fourth title in Saudi Arabia at age of 61

The 61-year-old Spaniard, father of Formula 1 driver Carlos Sainz Jr, ended one hour, 20 minutes and 25 seconds ahead of Belgian Guillaume de Mevius.

Sainz also won in 2010, 2018 and 2020, with this latest victory breaking his own record as the race’s oldest winner.

“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,” he said.

“It shows that when you work hard, normally it pays off.”

France’s Sebastien Loeb, who finished third, had been the Audi driver’s nearest challenger but suffered mechanical problems during Thursday’s penultimate stage.

Sainz had led since the sixth stage but triumphed without winning any of the 12 stages outright, crossing the line 12th in Friday’s finale in Yanbu, on the Red Sea coast.

It is the first time Audi has won the Dakar Rally, with all four of Sainz’s victories coming with different manufacturers after previous triumphs for Mini, Volkswagen and Peugeot.

Only Qatar’s Nasser Al Attiyah with five and French eight-time winner Stephane Peterhansel have won the race more.

Asked whether he would return next year, Sainz added: “At the moment, I want to enjoy this victory and I will think about my future in the next weeks.”

American Ricky Brabec won the motorbike section for Honda for his second career title.

The race – the 46th edition of the Dakar Rally – is regarded as one of the toughest tests on the motorsport calendar.

It began in 1979 and originally took place between Paris and the Senegalese capital Dakar, before switching to South America between 2009 and 2019 and then moving Saudi Arabia in 2020.

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