Column Vol.2
Aug 29, 2008
Results from the "Virtual Dakar Rally" - Rally Mongolia and the latest progress report
HINO Races in the Rally Mongolia 2008
Report of results
Hino Team Sugawara (Teruhito Sugawara and Seiichi Suzuki) competed in a rally that stretched a total of 3,268km over a duration of 7 days from 4-11 August*. Our team considered this to be a prelude to the Dakar Rally as this rally takes place at the same altitude as the Dakar Rally to be held in South America between Argentina and Chile. The purpose of competing was to take every step to verify the performance potential of our truck, hence our modifications to meet new regulations such as changing the engine positioning, extending the wheel base, and lightening the rear body, etc. (see below for details). Unfortunately, however, we were forced to retire mid-race due to engine trouble.
The problem occurred during stage 6 on 9 August, at an elevation of 1,800m and an air temperature of 30ºC. When the truck was traveling at full throttle in 6th gear at 158km/h, a radiator hose joint came loose, suddenly increasing the coolant temperature. Although we secured the hose in place and replenished the coolant to continue the race, a similar problem soon recurred, which damaged the head gasket. It was at this point that we made the decision to retire from the race.
In this rally - our Virtual Dakar Rally - we sampled a variety of situations that we could expect to encounter, which enabled us to verify the reliability of our vehicle and the performance enhancements gained from the modifications that we made. At the same time, the problem allowed us to identify issues that we would have to tackle for the Dakar Rally. An emergency meeting was held immediately after our summer holidays, during which we analyzed the race video based on data from the drive recorder to confirm the issues and implement further improvement measures.
Earlier, during the problem, we made an urgent air shipment of head gaskets, which was received at Ulan Bator, and the very next day we received word of the problem, despite the fact that it occurred during the summer holidays. Through this experience, we were able to confirm our tight-knit teamwork.
As an aside, Yoshimasa Sugawara competed in this race on his Jimny as an individual entrant and finished the race.
Driven under their own power from Vladivostok to Ulan Bator
Prior to taking part in Rally Mongolia 2008, an event called the "Sumotori Raid" was held, in which trucks were driven under their own power from Vladivostok (Russia) to Ulan Bator. The organizer of this event was Sumotori, a Hino dealer in Russia (based in Vladivostok). A caravan of 7 trucks, headed by a Hino truck (the truck to take part in the Rally Mongolia), followed by the Sumotori racing team, which was to also compete in the rally, were driven under their own power for the 4,300 kilometers to Ulan Bator.
The caravan left Vladivostok on 23 July and headed west along the border with China. The caravan was met with press conferences and welcoming celebrations daily in towns along the way where the caravan would stop for the night. People who had heard about this raid gathered and cheered along the road sides. The caravan arrived at Ulan Bator on 30 July without event.
Press conferences held during this raid were featured in many media outlets, including ZR Press (http://www.zrpress.ru/web/2008/8/) and Vostok Media (http://vostokmedia.com/n20952.html).
