Team Completes the Last Demanding Course in Peru.

Car 2 Extends its Lead as Leader of the Under 10-litre Class
Car 1 Recovers from its Problems and Overtakes 16 Trucks in an Exhilarating Run.

The stage for January 8 took the teams from Nazca to Arequipa. This was to be the last day of desert stages that were lined up back-to-back from the start, and was also the most challenging. The 288km SS consisted primarily of dunes, and the course took contestants from an elevation of nearly 0m up to 2000m. The first part of the course was particularly challenging as evidenced by the large number of vehicles that got stuck along the way.

Both HINO 500 Series trucks fielded by HINO TEAM SUGAWARA showed their outstanding ability to overcome difficult terrain in this SS. Car 2 crewed by Teruhito Sugawara and Hiroyuki Sugiura came in at 24th overall, joining the ranks of larger trucks, and top in the Under 10-litre class. Car 1, which experienced a major problem with a tie rod yesterday, delivered the solid performance, overtaking 16 trucks right out of the start, coming in at 29th overall and 3rd in the Under 10-litre class. These results gave Car 2 an accumulated ranking of 22nd overall, and a larger lead as the leader in its class. Car 1 is also doing well at 32nd overall and 5th in the class. The runner up position in the Under 10-litre class based on accumulated rankings is currently held by the veteran crew of Johan Elfrink and Michel de Groot (Mercedes Benz Axor). The Hino team will be keeping an eye on how this crew does and aim for a class championship as well as high rankings in the Trucks category overall.

Since the trucks had to travel on a 429km liaison from the SS goal to their bivouac in Arequipa, neither of the HINO 500 Series trucks had arrived as of 6 pm local time. As of this writing, Hino mechanics are eagerly awaiting the arrival of the trucks at the bivouac in Arequipa, which is situated in a mountain area at an elevation of 2000m. On January 9, contestants will compete in a 172km SS near Arequipa, cross the border into Chile via liaison and head for Arica.

Yoshimasa Sugawara: There are more than a few dunes in South America that we can get over relatively easily simply by driving around them, and in that respect, I think we did fairly well. I was a bit concerned with the truck as it encountered problems yesterday, but we had no issues today.

Katsumi Hamura: Navigating was pretty difficult as there were plenty of lines by the time trucks got to any given section. But I am relieved that we were able to get over the dunes skillfully.

Mitsuhiro Urabe: We replaced the tie rod and center bolts on Car 1 last night. It goes to show that these newly modified components can be a source of concern. For tonight, I'm sure both trucks will arrive here without any problems.

*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-4/rankings/stage-trucks.html#ancre

Overall ranking
https://www.dakar.com/dakar/2013/us/stage-4/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.