On February 27, an event was held at Hino head offices where participants looked back at the historic records achieved by HINO TEAM SUGAWARA in Dakar Rally 2012, namely, their "3 consecutive championships in the Under 10-litre class of the Trucks category," and "21 consecutive finishes" since Hino first entered the rally in 1991.Present at the event from HINO TEAM SUGAWARA were team leader and driver Yoshimasa Sugawara, driver Teruhito Sugawara, navigators Seiichi Suzuki and Hiroyuki Sugiura, and mechanics that were dispatched from different Hino dealers.The team reflected on this year's race and reported on their victory in front of an audience of about 100 people, which included Hino president Yoshio Shirai, board members and employees involved in the project, as well as representatives from sponsors and other Hino group companies.

Relating their involvement in the Dakar Rally and expressing their passion for this race were Hino president Yoshio Shirai, who made his first trip to the race site this year and was present for the finish in Lima, Peru; journalist Masaru Arai who has been involved in TV reporting of the Dakar Rally for many years; and, on behalf of all sponsors, chairman of Tachi-S Co., Ltd., Kiyoshi Saito. No sooner had they congratulated HINO TEAM SUGAWARA for their amazing achievements than conversations turned to next year and the room was filled with excitement with sponsors making a collective declaration to come together again to support the team in their quest for even loftier goals.As one of the individuals who has been involved in the Dakar Rally challenge since Hino's first entry in the race, Hino executive vice president, Masakazu Ichikawa, who unfortunately could not be present at the event due to a sudden business trip, extended his gratitude, encouragement, and message to HINO TEAM SUGAWARA and its sponsors.

The following are some of the messages given by individuals at the event.

It was a revelation for me to see that motor sport events were treated as huge national events in Peru. This is something that you don't notice if you are in Japan. For example, the goal ceremony was held in front of the president's official residence. The streets in the area were closed off, and the president came out for the recognition ceremony. In Japan, this would be something like closing off all the roads near the prime minister's official residence, the diet building, and imperial palace, and having the prime minister take part in ceremonies. That would be unthinkable in Japan. This shows the extent to which the citizens of Peru love motor sports, and the Dakar Rally in particular.

It was truly a moving experience to see how HINO TEAM SUGAWARA was able to achieve 21 consecutive finishes, 3 consecutive class championships, and 9th position in the overall Trucks category in this atmosphere. By communicating the superiority of Hino trucks to the world in this way, we were able to showcase our global Hino brand. Also, all companies in the Hino group were able to come together in support of this rally. While we had many discussions (of whether or not to continue racing) after the Lehman shock, I was able to see for myself that we made the right decision by continuing to race in this rally. We are committed to supporting HINO TEAM SUGAWARA in the Dakar Rally, and I would like to thank you in advance for your ongoing support as well.

We entered the Modified category with our first new truck in 8 years which had undergone significant modifications. We had never raced in Peru before, and while the course was quite grueling with full-blown desert courses that would take us from zero elevation to close to 1,600m in one fell swoop, the modifications we made to the truck - relocating the engine to create a mid-ship setup, enhancing its cooling performance, and extensive weight-shedding totaling about 300kg overall - were instrumental in winning our third consecutive class championship.

We had verified during the Rally Mongolia, which was held earlier, that the new truck delivered 10% better performance in terms of time. As we were able to reduce the time difference with the overall leader compared to last year, and also because we are planning to make axle modifications, refit our drum brakes with disk brakes, and make other modifications, I am confident that we will be able to aim for even higher rankings next year. One thing that I was very happy to see in Peru was that there were a lot of Hino trucks driving around. As soon as we entered Peru, we came across many Hino trucks on public roads, and this surprised our competitors racing in other makes. We were very encouraged when drivers noticed that our race truck was a Hino and waved at us.

The Ishinomaki branch of Miyagi Hino Motors where I work was badly damaged by the tsunami from the Great East Japan Earthquake. This was my first stint in the Dakar Rally, and was a dream-come-true for me. I also had very special feelings about this event as I wanted to thank people around the world who sent their support and thoughts by showing them that we are all doing well. I also wanted to deliver uplifting news to disaster victims as they continue to rebuild after the disaster.

Once back in Ishinomaki after the race, I had opportunities to tell people about the race and I realized that our most important achievement was that we had helped put a smile on many people's faces. I feel I have personally grown through the Dakar Rally and, going forward, I would like to join the ranks of people who are working tirelessly to rebuild their communities.

I had the opportunity to report on the Tour de France when I was a reporter at NHK. That led to my reporting on the Dakar Rally and introducing it on the Sunday Sports program. This was the first news report of the Dakar Rally in Japan. As a freelance journalist now, I am the only reporter from the Japanese broadcast media to follow this race on site. I have reported on a number of Olympics including Calgary, Atlanta, Nagano, and Sydney, as well as world renowned sport events such as the FIFA World Cup in France, but these were all done in closed domains where things were fairly predictable. The Dakar Rally, however, is an international event where contestants drive through multiple countries. The mechanics hardly get any sleep at all. For the drivers and navigators, it's an awe-inspiring sports event that is replete with unpredictable elements. There is a time difference of about 8 hours between when the first motorbike passes a check point and when the first truck passes the same point. The contestants race in vast deserts under the glaring sun where temperatures can reach 46 degree Celsius. I once had two cameras break down in one day. That's how harsh the racing environment is.

Yoshimasa Sugawara says, "Racing in the Dakar Rally is a way of washing away, once a year, all the inconsequential occurrences from my daily life and cleansing myself by fully focusing on the race." He also says, "We bear the Japanese flag and are conscious of the fact that we are representing our country in this race." This means HINO TEAM SUGAWARA is taking on this race as a representative of Japan. We've all seen the great achievements of "Nadeshiko Japan" in women's soccer, and I believe HINO TEAM SUGAWARA is also working as hard, if not more. One of the reasons we broadcasted race updates on a daily basis on a nationwide network was because we wanted people to see how everyone on the team was giving it their all. I would like to ask all of you present here for your continued support of "HINO TEAM SUGAWARA" as a representative of Japan. We will be committed to supporting the team through our videos and reporting.

For the past few years, the Hakone Ekiden (marathon relay race) and the Dakar Rally have become staple events that usher in the new years. The team's record of 21 consecutive finishes and 3 consecutive class championships is something that we as sponsors are very happy about. At the risk of ringing my own bell, I am happy to say that Tachi-S has manufactured and supplied special seats for drivers, and this year, we also supplied the navigators' seats.

I recently saw Yuichiro Miura in an ad saying, "It was in my 60s that I lost sight of my goals. And it was in my 60s that I realized the importance of having goals." Yoshimasa Sugawara has been setting his sights on the same goal for 30 years, and I hope he will continue to race for another 10 years. To that end, I hope Teruhito will support Yoshimasa as a father and son team. We've been informed that the new race truck will be undergoing even more performance enhancements so I look forward to this truck achieving even higher rankings in the overall category. Tachi-S and other sponsor companies are committed to working together to support the team's activities.

I was very grateful to have been recognized by the organizers for my 30th consecutive entry in the race. I recently had the opportunity to take part in Eikikai, a get-together of former Hino employees, and speak to them about the Dakar Rally. One of the participants asked me, "How were you able to continue for so many years?" and to this I replied, "I couldn't leave something so fun and interesting to somebody else." I also do feel that we are making contributions, however small, to international exchange in that the races traverse several national boundaries. I was hoping to continue racing for another 20 years, but I was stunned to learn that my plans were cut short by 10 years when Mr. Saito mentioned that he hoped that I would continue for another 10 (laughter)!

Joking aside, the new generation of people who will be supporting the team are learning and growing. I intend to focus my attention on this area as well, so I would like to thank you for your continued support.