Over here at Demaras Racing HQ we’re big fans of dad-and-lad Carlos Sainz Sr (the former World Rally Champion) and Carlos Sainz Jr (the current Formula 1 driver). While Jr is in the middle of the ‘off-season’ Sr is racing at the Dakar Rally in Saudi Arabia.
And he’s having a tough time.
The Spaniard is a 4-time Dakar Rally winner, and the reigning champ. But he’s also 62-years-old, and there’s only so many times his body can sustain damage. During yesterday’s 1,000 km stage, Sainz Sr’s Ford Raptor flipped at the 327 km mark, causing heavy damage to the rear end of the vehicle.
A fellow Ford racer helped right the champ, but the time lost while upside-down may have knocked Sainz Sr out of contention for back-to-back wins this year.
people will race cars *anywhere* won’t they?!
I know, eh?! Middle of the desert, nowhere near a hospital, right after New Years. What’s a 62 year old guy even doing there. What are ANY of them!
Trying to hold onto his youth, maybe?
I feel bad for the old-timer. I just wish he could have gone out on top. Maybe last year was the opportunity to hang up his helmet… but these guys, hardcore racers, they never know when its over.
Yeah. Accepting limitations as we age is definitely one of the challenges of getting older.
There’s plenty of Rally Raid racing that Sainz Sr can do, locally, in Spain. All over Europe for that matter. But if you see the tents these guys have to live in during this event, it makes you wonder why anyone would still want to compete. It’s man VS machine and man VS nature all rolled into a two week event.
I saw that Sainz had flipped. But at least he got it turned over and continued racing.
Yup. Did the same thing two years ago, kept hoing, then realized how badly he’d busted up his body and retired from the event.
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Then came back last year and won.
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Who knows if he or the var can continue. I’ll check the news in the morning to see. But I hope he makes the right call.
What a shame; I was rooting for the guy. He is proof that older people can achieve extraordinary things.
I liked that two weeks ago, he was in Maranello where Scuderia Ferrari let Sainz Sr drive an F1 car as part of their ‘good-bye’ to Sainz Jr.
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Now here’s Sr. trying to win his 5th Dakar. That is jnspirational, for sure Rubens.
We camped out in Colorado in Great Sand Dunes National Park back in 2005. The wind was wild and the tent sounded like it would blow away. I can only imagine what it would be like in a real desert.
The event goes on for two weeks. At the end of the day, the factory-backed drivers return to their luxurious RVs. But there are some stages where the end point is too far away, and everyone (no matter how old or rich or famous) bust sleep in a tent.
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And the winds in the desert are wild. Like you said, without a human in there, the tents would just blow away.