HINO TEAM SUGAWARA entered the Rally Mongolia (August 8 through 15, starting and finishing at Ulan Bator) as an all-too-valuable real-world testing ground for the HINO 500 Series that will be entering in the Dakar Rally 2012, the team's first new truck in 8 years. Rally Mongolia is a grueling rally that takes contestants over a total distance of approx. 3,000km primarily in the Gobi Desert over a period of 7 days. The team's truck was driven by Teruhito Sugawara, and navigated by Hiroyuki Sugiura.

Following is comments by Teruhito Sugawara reviewing the test run.

"We made various improvements to the truck that we entered in the 2011 Dakar Rally, such as reducing its weight by 300kg, placing the engine in a mid-ship position, lowering the truck's center of gravity, widening its tread (width between right and left wheels), making changes to suspension settings to match these changes, and installing a cab suspension. While we will be using the same engine that we used for the 2011 Dakar Rally, the truck's steering stability and driving speed have been improved dramatically. Although we have no comparison, I've got a feeling that these improvements are so favorably made that we could have shortened our driving time at least by 10% if we competed the Dakar 2011 in this truck. Additionally, by installing the intercooler and oil cooler at the top of the cargo area, allowing these to suck in outside air directly, I get a real feel that this improvement contributes to the cooling performance of the new mid-engine layout.
However, a key factor for delivering good performance at the Dakar Rally is to finish the race without encountering any problems. This test run has alerted us to a few problems, so we will be analyzing the recorded data to iron these out."

Data that they have collected during tests will be analyzed by the development team at Hino and the drivers, Yoshimasa Sugawara and Teruhito Sugawara, to make final adjustments as the team prepares for the Dakar Rally.
The HINO 500 Series came in 6th overall in the Cars category in Rally Mongolia 2011.

This test run at the Rally Mongolia was introduced in an article in Japanese newspaper titled "Weight reduction achieved, HINO TEAM SUGAWARA now sees solid prospects for a top-5 position in the Dakar!" (Photo: SSER)

Yoshimasa Sugawara also raced in the rally. At age 70, the iron man is still going strong

Yoshimasa Sugawara raced in a Jimny and came in 7th overall in the Cars category following the HINO 500 Series truck. While many vehicles were stuck in the dune stage early in the race, Yoshimasa Sugawara delivered solid performance and finished the race.
In addition to this race in Mongolia, he has been energetically racing in domestic off road races and is fully prepared for the Dakar Rally.

HINO TEAM SUGAWARA now has an official Facebook page

HINO TEAM SUGAWARA has opened an official page on Facebook, a major social networking service. The page will feature comments from ace driver, Teruhito Sugawara, as well as other information on the team's activities. Team Sugawara also has Facebook page which primarily features the daily activities of iron man, Yoshimasa Sugawara.

HINO TEAM SUGAWARA official facebook page　
https://www.facebook.com/HINO.Team.Sugawara

Team Sugawara official facebook page　
https://www.facebook.com/Team.Sugawara

* The information included in this news article was up to date as of its time of publishing, and may be revised without notice.

* The HINO vehicle referred in this news in relation to the rally is specially designed, tuned and modified for the Dakar Rally, and most of its specifications are different from those of the HINO vehicles sold in the market unless otherwise specifically mentioned.