(Reuters) – Spaniard Carlos Sainz became the oldest winner of the Dakar Rally at the age of 61 yesterday with his fourth victory in the car category securing a first for Audi.
Ferrari Formula One driver Carlos Sainz Jr was there to embrace his beaming ‘Matador’ father as the two-week motorsport marathon reached the finish in Yanbu on Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea coast.
American Honda rider Ricky Brabec won the motorcycling category for the second time while Spaniard Cristina Gutierrez triumphed in the lightweight Challenger class to become only the second female to take a title after Germany’s Jutta Kleinschmidt in 2001.
Sainz finished one hour 20 minutes and 25 seconds ahead of Belgian debutant Guillaume de Mevius for Overdrive Toyota with France’s Sebastien Loeb, a nine times world rally champion, third overall.
Loeb had been Sainz’s biggest rival until mechanical problems on Thursday but he wrapped up with a fifth stage win in his Bahrain Raid Xtreme team’s Prodrive Hunter.
Audi, now expected to focus on their Formula One entry in 2026, are the first to win with a car powered by an electric drive train.
The Audi RS Q e-tron uses an energy converter, featuring a 2.0 litre four cylinder turbo engine, to charge the car’s high-voltage battery while driving.
“This car is so special, it’s so difficult to manage, it has been so difficult to make it work…I’m so happy for Audi,” said Sainz, who held the lead from stage six after Saudi driver Yazeed Al-Rajhi crashed out.
“To be here with my age and to stay at the level, you need to work a lot before. It’s not coming just like that. It shows that when you work hard, normally it pays off,” said the 1990 and 1992 world rally champion.
“At the moment I want to enjoy this victory and I will think about my future in the next weeks and we will see.”
