It’s ironic that double World Rally champion and three-time Dakar Rally winner Carlos Sainz Sr’s topflight career would be launched by his specialism for asphalt. It was his back-to-back crowns aboard a Ford Sierra Cosworth RS in 1987 and 1988 in the Tarmac-heavy Spanish national rally division that earned a factory drive with Toyota on the world stage the following year.
The reputed Real Madrid trialist and squash champion’s skill for the smooth was helped by prior racing exploits in Renaults 5s and Formula Ford 1600 machinery. That combined with his mechanical sympathy – as he paid particular attention to tyres, springs, and dampers – made him a good fit for the mould of an endurance racer. Little wonder then that Sainz deeply impressed with his brief foray into sportscars in 1989.
Having just turned 27, he had an early May run out at Dijon in Brun Motorsport’s Porsche 962C. As Autosport reported at the time, Sainz was “a mite faster” than co-driver and compatriot…
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