With a record of 161 WRC starts to his name (which puts him in second place, level with Phil Mills), Luis Moya spent his entire world class career sitting alongside just one driver, Carlos Sainz. From 1988 until 2002, Luis didn’t call out pace notes for anybody but ‘El Matador’, yet the two Spaniards never succeeded in winning the Rallye Sanremo, despite 13 attempts. That said, they did clinch their 1990 world title in Italy.

In total, Carlos and Luis claimed two world titles and 24 WRC wins together, but the list didn’t include the Sanremo. Indeed, they suffered some pretty big blows on the Italian Riviera, including disqualification in 1993 for using banned fuel in their Lancia Delta Integrale.

In 1999, the pair’s Toyota Corolla WRC crashed out on the final stage of Leg 1, the awesome ‘Monte Ceppo’. It fell down a steep drop and the right-hand side ended up smashing into a tree, just behind Luis’s seat. The impact was so big that the trunk ended up inside the car. Miraculously, Carlos and his co-driver escaped from the wreck unhurt, but the two Spaniards cite it as the biggest accident of their 15 years together.

It was in Sanremo the same year that Toyota boss Ove Andersson announced that the Japanese make had decided to withdrawal from rallying in order to switch to Formula 1.

The following year saw Carlos and Luis compete in the colours of Ford, but their efforts on the Rallye Sanremo were no more successful, since they were fifth in 2000, then fourth in 2001. The last attempt of Luis, in 2002, ended in exclusion for late arrival at the service park in Imperia following an oil leak on the N°4 Ford Focus WRC on SS3.

After a spell as Sporting Manager for Subaru (an appointment he took up on the 2003 Sanremo!), Luis Moya decided to retire from world class rallying. He also worked as team manager for Xevi Pons in the SWRC.

Luis Moya, Phil Mills, Rallye Sanremo 2011, Toyota Corolla WRC