Jan 13, 2012, Arequipa-Nasca
Connection: 412 Special Stage: 245 Total: 657 (km)

HINO TEAM SUGAWARA Achieves Their First One-Two Finish in a Challenging Segment Towards the End of This Rally.
Car 2 Considerably Expands its Overall Lead in the Under 10-litre Class.

Of the two trucks fielded by HINO TEAM SUGAWARA in the 2012 Dakar Rally, Car 2 piloted by Teruhito Sugawara and Seiichi Suzuki experienced a major problem with their drive train in the SS on January 12th, but were able to minimize the effects of this problem, thanks to the excellent teamwork exercised by Yoshimasa Sugawara and Hiroyuki Sugiura of Car 1, and the assistance team of four Hino mechanics. On the 13th, the team took on an SS stretching from Arequipa to Nazca, which is considered to be one of highlights of the final stages of this rally. The 245 km SS consisted of long stretches of sandy terrain that were reminiscent of Morocco, and also featured several dune segments. The 30 km dune segment towards the end of this SS at an elevation of about 1600 m was particularly difficult, challenging many contestants to their limits.

Car 2 overcame this difficult SS in good form, completing the dunes with no errors, and finished the SS beating out many of its larger rivals at 10th overall, and 1st place in the Under 10-litre class. Yoshimasa Sugawara's many years of experience shined through as he made a point of minimizing the stresses on Car 1, coming in at 13th overall and 2nd in the class for this SS. This marked the first one-two finish for HINO TEAM SUGAWARA in this year's rally. These results bring Car 2's ranking to 11th overall. It was also able to expand the time difference once again with Johan Elfrink's truck (Mercedes Benz Axor) who trails 2nd place in the Under 10-litre class.

Nazca, where the bivouac was set up, is a harsh environment that would make the sand-blasted wastelands of Mauritania, Africa blush. The four Hino mechanics were seen tending to their trucks with eye goggles on. Tomorrow, on the 14th, contestants will be racing on a 275 km SS to Pisco, the final bivouac point.

Yoshimasa Sugawara: We picked up our pace today to solidify our rankings. The dunes were sheer hell and we saw many vehicles get buried in them, but Hiroyuki and I worked well together as usual to determine the best routes to tackle them. The sand was soft.

Hiroyuki Sugiura: This was the first time in a while that we came across full-blown dunes, so we had a good time today. I think Yoshimasa and I were able to work together well as a team.

Teruhito Sugawara: The dunes today essentially involved going over small mounds as we gradually climbed higher. There were spots where the sand was very soft and spots that were hard, so we selectively chose the lines where we thought the sand would be harder. We had no problems with our truck today, and I hope we come across challenging dunes again tomorrow.

Seiichi Suzuki: The dunes we had today were not the huge sand hills we saw in Argentina, but dunes in the true sense of the word. We had no water temperature issue, which was one of our potential concerns, and things went very smoothly today.

(The rankings in parentheses are in the class with an engine displacement of below 10 liters.)
*The rankings at the time when the report was written might be adjusted afterwards.

Refer to the Daily Movies
https://www.hino-global.com/dakar/gallery/video_index.html

*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.