The debut ended ahead of schedule.
Lisbon, March 2026
Carlos Sainz retired on Wednesday during the opening stage of the Portugal Rally Raid in his first official outing alongside Daniel Oliveras, the new co-driver joining the Spanish driver in the World Rally Raid Championship. The early exit came at the start of a new competitive chapter for Sainz with Ford, after the team had confirmed in previous days that the Portuguese event would mark the first race for the new pairing in the Ford Raptor T1+.
The retirement took place during the opening day of the event, a round of the W2RC calendar being held from March 18 to March 22 across Portugal and Spain. Reports from the motorsport press indicated that the problem forcing Sainz out was linked to the engine, in a stage that also proved difficult for other competitors and for Ford’s overall campaign.
The event carried particular significance for Sainz because it marked his first official appearance with Daniel Oliveras after the end of his long partnership with Lucas Cruz. Ford had presented the Portugal race as the beginning of a new phase in its rally raid project, with Sainz and Oliveras forming one of the central crews in the programme. The rally also represented an important first test for the new pairing as the season moves forward.
The Portugal Rally Raid had been framed as a key opportunity to sharpen the adaptation of the new duo and continue development work with the Ford Raptor T1+. Ahead of the start, team communications had underlined that this was the beginning of a fresh stage for Sainz in rally raid, now alongside Oliveras, a co-driver with solid experience in off-road competition and endurance navigation.
That plan changed on the very first day. According to available reports, Sainz stopped at kilometre 123 and requested assistance to be towed back to the bivouac, bringing his participation in the opening stage to an early end. The incident left Ford without one of its most visible reference points in a day when other crews also struggled to complete the route.
Even with the retirement, the Portugal event had already been positioned as the formal competitive starting point of the new Sainz-Oliveras pairing. In that sense, the race mattered not only for its immediate result, but also for the launch of an association Ford had been presenting as part of its roadmap for the W2RC season. The setback, however, leaves the debut without sustained race mileage and shifts attention to the next opportunity to assess the project under full competitive conditions.
The retirement in the first stage therefore closes prematurely a participation that had arrived surrounded by interest because of the co-driver change and because of Portugal’s symbolic role as a reset point for Sainz within the championship. The rally will continue for the rest of the field, while the Spanish driver is out after a debut interrupted by mechanical trouble at the opening of the event.
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