The significance of Hino's involvement in this rally first of all has to do with increasing consumer awareness of the Hino brand and growing it into a global brand. The next objective is to prove Hino's technological capabilities in a globally recognized proving ground. And the third objective is to bring all relevant individuals and organizations together to work towards a common goal - that is, to enter and win in the Dakar Rally - and ultimately enhance teamwork.
Always in pursuit of his dreams, Yoshimasa Sugawara is now 70 years old. He will probably be the oldest of all racers in the upcoming race. Although the fight will not be easy, we are confident that he and his son, Teruhito Sugawara, who lead HINO TEAM SUGAWARA, will fulfill their goals in South America once again.
Here in Japan, the Ishinomaki sales office of Miyagi Hino, which suffered severe damage from the Great East Japan Earthquake, opened its doors again on October 11, seven months after the disaster. One of the mechanics at this sales office, Yuya Inaba who is a disaster victim himself, will be taking part as a member of the team in this race. He is committed to making things a little brighter for disaster victims by providing positive energy amidst their many hardships, and conveys his gratitude to the people of the world for their support by showing them the result of his and the team's hard work.
This time, I also plan to be at the finishing line. I hope everyone in the Hino group will extend their support to HINO TEAM SUGAWARA.

Our trucks have turned out great for this upcoming rally. Though the mood was quite gloomy this year in the aftermath of the earthquake, my hope is to dispel some of this by showing people the hard work that we have put into this rally. I am committed to cherishing the Japanese spirit, and taking these Japan-made Hino trucks to compete against our international competitors. As a matter of fact, they are formidable and we have information that some of the best will be competing in the upcoming race. Even so, my desire is to win against these strong teams and achieve as high a ranking as possible.
I'm now old enough to celebrate my 70th birthday, and next year will be the start of Hino's 21st year in this rally. I intend to continue to race for another 20 years so I would like to thank and ask you in advance for your generous support until I turn 90.

First of all, the course. This is the fourth time that this rally w ill be held in South America. The previous rallies coursed through Argentina and Chile, but this time, it will extend into Peru. Mar Del Plata, the starting point of this race, is a famous resort, so the contestants will be starting off amidst the cheering of a large number of tourists. On the first day, there will be a 30-km SS along the coast and we have been informed that this will be a grueling course. Next, we will be crossing the Andes Mountains where we will reach a maximum elevation of 4,500m in some places. While this elevation will be at a liaising point, some SS will have sections of 3,500m. Then we will be moving on to the Atacama Desert, where we will be tackling dunes from day 4 to after day 10. In one of the final sections in Peru, a country we will be entering for the first time in the Dakar Rally, we will be tackling large Nazca sand dunes, some of which are reported to be huge. A large portion of this rally will be raced on sand dunes, and I personally expect this to be one of the most challenging courses we have ever raced on.

As for our vehicle, we have a new racing truck. Its engine was relocated to a mid-ship position for better front-rear weight balance, and its frame width was expanded to accommodate a larger engine. The cabin was shortened to achieve a 50kg weight reduction. And as a result of exploiting all the new possibilities for truck fabrication in the new rally regulations, such as fabricating the sides of the rear body with canvas, we have been able to reduce the truck's overall weight by 300kg compared to last time. Meanwhile, we have had many cooling-related challenges as it is summer in South America when the race is held. To address this issue, we have moved the intercooler behind the cabin, under the roof to improve cooling effectiveness. All these modifications were tested at the Rally Mongolia and proved to work well.

We take a multi-year approach in enhancing our trucks. This time will be the first year for our new truck. Even though the truck's transmission and axles have been carried over from our previous truck, we were able to shorten our time by 10%, indicating a solid improvement in racing performance. While this will be the first rally for this new truck, as long as we are able to complete the race without withdrawing midway through, I'm confident that we will be able to achieve high rankings. Our goal is to win the Under-10L class championship, and achieve high rankings in the Trucks category. Within 5 years, we hope to develop a truck that will make it into the top 5 in the Trucks category. I'm very much looking forward to this race as it will be a touchstone in our pursuit of this goal.