He’s currently flying high in the Formula Renault 2.0 NEC series, so here are some big numbers about up-and-coming racing hero Carlos Sainz Jr.
01/09/94...
Hard to believe, but Carlos Sainz Jr is still (just) 16 years old. By September 1994, when he arrived in the world, his father had already won two World Rally Championship titles (1990 and 1992). Carlos Sr, of course, is still very much an active racing driver, campaigning the Red Bull VW Touareg to much success in the Dakar Rally.
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12...
Carlos was the winner of the prestigious Junior Monaco Kart Cup in 2009, the 12th running of the event, which started in 1995 but had a four-year break from 2002 until its reintroduction in 2006. Carlos is in good company as a victor. Former F1 Drivers’ Championship leader Robert Kubica (currently recovering from a rallying injury that has prevented him driving for Renault this season) won two years in a row in 1998 and 1999, followed in 2000 by Belgian Jérôme D’Ambrosio (currently on the grid with F1 team Marussia Virgin Racing) and the following year, the winner was… Sebastian Vettel. And we all know what happened to him.
2.0...
Before his win in Monaco, Carlos had already won the 2008 Asia-Pacific KF3 karting championship, then in ’09, as well as taking the aforementioned Kart Cup title, he was runner-up in the European KF3 series. He earned himself Red Bull Junior Team backing and a drive in a Formula BMW car run by EuroInternational for 2010. He came fourth, with two pole positions, one win and five podiums, and a total of 227pts. After such a promising showing, he moved to Formula Renault for 2011.
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9/14...
Carlos Jr has won nine of this year’s 14 Formula Renault 2.0 NEC races so far for Koiranan Bros Motorsport, including a double at Zandvoort, Netherlands last weekend. “Conditions really weren’t easy today – but I had a trouble-free race for the most part,” he said after win number two on the Sunday. “I was able to quickly pull away and completed an all-around perfect weekend. Things were simply great from start to finish today. An advantage of 16 seconds isn’t too bad…”
371...
There are two more rounds and six races left this season in the Formula Renault 2.0 NEC series, and with a maximum of 30pts available for a win, Carlos’s 371pts at the head of the standings is beginning to look like a useful total. His Red Bull Junior team-mate Daniil Kvyat (RUS) is in second place overall, and sits 104pts behind him on 267pts, a full three victories’ worth. Surprisingly perhaps, points are scored for the top 20 placings in Formula Renault, meaning that plenty of wheel-to-wheel racing is likely before the season is out and the champion crowned.
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