Latest award just one of many for ‘92 Safari Rally champ Sainz
What you need to know:
- The double world champion defeated Frenchman Sébastien Loeb in the head-to-head final.
- Sainz claimed 57.28 per cent of the vote in a close climax to the contest, the WRC Promoter announced on Tuesday.
- All 18 WRC champions since the introduction of the WRC drivers’ title in 1979 were joined in the competition by two wildcard entries.
The 1992 World Rally Championship Safari Rally winner Carlos Sainz from Spain has been crowned the greatest WRC driver of all time in a poll by fans and expert journalists on the FIA World Rally Championship’s official website.
The double world champion defeated Frenchman Sébastien Loeb in the head-to-head final. Sainz claimed 57.28 per cent of the vote in a close climax to the contest, the WRC Promoter announced on Tuesday.
The competition captured the imagination of rally fans across the globe with more than 80,000 votes cast in the final. More than 300,000 votes were polled during the month-long tournament, organised by WRC Promoter and supported by Italian tyre manufacturer Pirelli.
“I cannot be more happy and more proud about this recognition,” the 58-year-old Sainz told fans. “Thank you very much for bringing me first to the final and, of course, secondly for allowing to me to win this recognition against Sébastien Loeb. I don’t need to tell you how much I rate Sébastien Loeb and how much he deserves to be the greatest. But I have to say not only him, all the world champions merit this recognition. But somebody has to win and, in this case, it has been myself.”
He added: “I gave everything to rallying. Rallying has been my life, rallying has been my dream and today rallying and the whole family of rallying is giving me a big smile and this big recognition,” he added.
Sainz, nicknamed ‘El Matador’ won the drivers’ world title in 1990 and 1992 with Toyota and scored 26 WRC wins from 196 career starts. He was one of the WRC’s most consistent performers and also finished second or third in the championship on a remarkable nine occasions.
He stood on the podium in almost half the rallies he started and was renowned for his attention to detail and pre-event preparation. He was always navigated by Luis Moya.
All 18 WRC champions since the introduction of the WRC drivers’ title in 1979 were joined in the competition by two wildcard entries. A tournament-style knock-out draw brought drivers into head-to-head battles against each other. Every day, fans and a panel of expert journalists voted for their favourite from each pairing.
Sixth seed Sainz defeated the first overseas driver to win the Safari in 1972 Hannu Mikkola of Finland in the opening round of the competition before toppling third-ranked compatriot Tommi Mäkinen, Safari Rally champion in 1996. He then beat six-time champion Frenchman Sébastien Ogier, seeded second, in the semi-final.
Loeb, nine-time world champion and top seed, eclipsed Briton Richard Burns who won the Safari Rally in 1998 and Walter Röhrl in the early rounds. He then beat former Safari Rally driver Juha Kankkunen ‘Flying Finn’ in the semi-final.
The panel of six expert journalists could not split the two drivers in the final as each gained three votes. It meant the ultimate decision rested with the fans, and Sainz’s incredible popularity carried him to victory.
The panel of journalists comprised Julian Porter (WRC commentator and broadcaster), Marco Giordo (Autosprint Magazine, Italy), Reiner Kuhn (Motorsport aktuell, Germany), David Evans (DirtFish, USA), Loic Rocci (AUTOhebdo, France) and José-Manuel González (WRC+ All Live commentator, Spain).
WRC Promoter managing director Oliver Ciesla was overwhelmed by the huge response to the competition.
“First, my congratulations to Carlos for adding the title of The Greatest WRC Driver to his numerous achievements,” Ciesla said.
Patrick Njiru who hosted Sainz at his petrol station in Kibra, described Sainz as a great friend of Kenya.
“He was humble and never appeared bothered to have tea with me in a slum."
