Dakar Rally 2013 Crosses Over into Chile.

Team Carefully Completes the Final Stage in Peru.
Car 2 Extends its Lead as Leader of the Under 10-litre Class

The course on January 9 lead from Arequipa to Arica, taking the rally from Peru into Chile. This was the 5th day of Dakar Rally 2013, and while almost 60 vehicles have already withdrawn from the race in the sand dune stages up to January 8, there have been only 3 withdrawals in the Trucks category, suggesting that the level of competitive performance in this category is improving.

After traveling 284km on a liaison segment from Arequipa, the contestants competed in a 172km SS near the Chilean border. The route then took them across the border into Chile via a 53km liaison to eventually reach the bivouac in Arica near the Pacific coast. The SS today was not dominated by sand dunes as were the stages leading up to January 8, and mainly consisted of harder terrain including dry river beds and winding mountain roads. For this day, the Bikes category was designated a completely different route.

HINO TEAM SUGAWARA's two HINO 500 Series trucks did very well again this day. Car 2 crewed by Teruhito Sugawara and Hiroyuki Sugiura proceeded at a quick pace for a medium-sized truck. As a result, Car 2 came in at 24th overall and 2nd in the Under 10-litre class for the day. This brought the truck's accumulated ranking to 20th overall as it maintained its top position in the Under 10-litre class. Under extremely dusty conditions, Yoshimasa Sugawara and Seiichi Suzuki of Car 1 paced themselves to avoid unnecessary risks, completing the SS at 42nd overall and 5th in the class. This brought their accumulated rankings to 32nd overall and 5th in the Under 10-litre Class. On January 10, the race will take the contestants on a 455km SS on their way to Calama. The two days after that will be spent crossing the Andes as the race heads for Argentina, and the high elevation is expected to pose challenges for the contestants.

Yoshimasa Sugawara: We made the decision to control our pace to reduce risks as the conditions were very dusty and also because many parts of the track were narrow. Needless to say, we encountered no problems.

Teruhito Sugawara: The route today was so bad to the point where it made you wonder why anyone would decide to hold a race here. We came across dry river beds and winding roads, the tracks were narrow and the dust was bad, and while we had some dunes towards the end, this was a rather unenjoyable day of racing.

Hiroyuki Sugiura: The day went smoothly with no navigational glitches or punctured tires. We're told that the SS for tomorrow will be in a desert area near Iquique.

Seiichi Suzuki: Car 2 will have leaves added to its front suspension to slightly increase its height on the driver's request. Car 1 will require not much more work than fluid changes. Both trucks are performing really well.

*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-5/rankings/stage-trucks.html#ancre

Overall ranking
https://www.dakar.com/dakar/2013/us/stage-5/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.