Full-Blown Competition Begins on the Sand Dunes of Pisco.

Car 2 Comes in at 21st Position and Top in Class for the SS.
Team Posts One-Two Rankings in the Under 10-litre Class based on Accumulated Rankings.

On January 6, contestants raced on a 242km loop course starting off from Pisco. Technically not exactly a loop, the course took the racers to the southeastern section via an 85km liaison segment followed by an SS that brought them back towards the bivouac, and eventually brought them back to the goal after traversing sand dunes in the same SS as yesterday near the bivouac. While the SS was not particularly challenging, the crews of the two HINO 500 Series trucks fielded by HINO TEAM SUGAWARA took on this stage with a healthy dose of cautious attention.

The Teruhito Sugawara and Hiroyuki Sugiura crew of Car 2 was the 23rd to start, and although they lost precious minutes as they had trouble finding the way point at the 75km point, they came in 22nd overall and top in the Under 10-litre class. This brought the truck's accumulated rankings to 21st overall and top in the class. The Yoshimasa Sugawara and Katsumi Hamura crew of Car 1 was the 38th to start and handled the dunes smoothly, thanks partly to the fact that they proceeded at a controlled pace to counter rising water temperatures. The truck returned to Pisco at a ranking of 30th overall and 3rd in the class, bringing their accumulated overall ranking to 28th. This also brought them to 2nd place in the Under 10-litre class, giving the team one-two rankings in this class.

This year's Dakar Rally features many highly challenging sand dune areas in the early stages in Peru. It is expected that over the 7 days that will take them to Nazca, contestants will be facing sand dune areas that are even more challenging than the ones they tackled today. While the trucks are running exceptionally well, Hino mechanics were seen carrying out careful servicing work late into the night.

Yoshimasa Sugawara: This was the first time we tackled full-blown sand dunes with our new electronically controlled engine, and I was pleasantly surprised that the accelerator was very easy to control making the truck easier to drive. We reduced our pace because the water temperature got a bit high, and we were able to traverse the dunes safely and solidly by approaching them in 2nd gear.

Katsumi Hamura: There was a moment of great disappointment when, although we did take the final way point, we were told that we hadn't due to an error on the part of the organizer. In the end, I was very relieved that they were able to verify that we had.

Teruhito Sugawara: We lost our way at the 75km point when we misidentified the erg (sand sea) line, and that set us back by about 15-20 minutes. There were no surprises with the sand dunes, and they were not exceptionally difficult. What's on my mind now is that it looks like we will be facing much more challenging dunes tomorrow and the day after.

Hiroyuki Sugiura: It appears that my navigation still has a bit of catching up to do to match Teruhito's pace. The course for tomorrow appears to be a run in the opposite direction on the same course as last year, and the sand dunes in the early parts appear to be quite challenging. I will give it my all tomorrow again.

*The rankings at the time when the report was written might be adjusted afterwards.

Refer to the latest ranking list of the official site.

Stage ranking
https://www.dakar.com/dakar/2013/us/stage-2/rankings/stage-trucks.html#ancre

Overall ranking
https://www.dakar.com/dakar/2013/us/stage-2/rankings/overall-trucks.html#ancre

ROUTE MAP

PHOTOS

*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.