Special Stage [antikvár]

Carlos and IMy first personal memory of Carlos Sainz goes back to the Acropolis Rally in 1997, the first time I visited a Rally World Championship race. That rally was a determining experience for me for various reasons - it changed my life, as it were - but there was a specific moment I always recall when the word turns to Sainz around the table. We just left for the next special stage at the finish of the stage called Stiri when I spotted a large Repsol-yellow back-fender of a Ford Escort WRC in the mud. Since my Renault Twingo was not spacious enough, to put it mildly, I broke off one third of the fender and took it with me happily. Carlos Sainz won the race, and in the last service park my girlfriend got a Sainz 97' signature on the hard-won relic I brought down from the mountains. A few years later the girl was gone, taking the Repsol-yellow fender with her. Ali I have now is the shots I took when Sainz signed it, but I would not say I miss it too much Eight years have passed since then, and I had the opportunity to see Carlos Sainz from up close at more than 80 world championship rallies.This year the Matador shared his table with me for thirty minutes before the Catalunya Rally, and that was when I related this story to him.Richárd Bálint