Trucks and Crew Take Time Off to Refresh in Preparation for the Second Half of the Race.

Teams Have a Rest Day at Tucuman, Argentina.
Hino Mechanics Take no Time to Rest or Sleep to Thoroughly Service the Trucks.

On January 13, Dakar Rally 2013 had a day of rest at San Miguel de Tucuman in Argentina. Competition for January 12 was canceled for the Trucks category due to rainfall (The Cars category competed on a shortened course, but competition was terminated at checkpoint 2), and the trucks arrived at Tucuman driving on the liaison route all the way. Partially due to this, HINO TEAM SUGAWARA started by washing and refueling the trucks that day, followed by servicing. While Car 2 primarily underwent scheduled replacements of regular replacement parts and overall inspections, Car 1, in addition to these servicing tasks, was given additional measures for preventing overheating in preparation for the second half of the race. Hino mechanics worked through the night, had a 2-hour nap in the morning, and began working again under muggy conditions in the bright sunlight. By the time all servicing tasks were completed at 7 pm, the trucks were both thoroughly refreshed, and the mechanics prepared for the second half of the race with the crew that had taken the day off.

The second half of the race is scheduled to run from January 14 to 19 over six stages, where the crucial stages are likely to be held in the FiambalaDesert in Argentina, and the Atacama Desert around Copiapo in Chile. The entire team is highly motivated to achieve their goal of winning their 4th consecutive championship in the Under 10-litre class and come in at high rankings in the overall Trucks category.

Yoshimasa Sugawara: I will be replenishing my physical condition for the second half. Tomorrow, we will be going over up-down terrain with hard road surfaces, so it will be a great opportunity to test our brakes.

Katsumi Hamura: Tomorrow, trucks will be competing on an SS that is almost completely different from the motorbikes and cars, so navigation will require even more attention than usual. I see many junctures on the road book so I will pay special attention not to take the wrong course.

Teruhito Sugawara: At only a little over 3000km, the total mileage of competition stages for trucks this year is short. There is an element of sprint racing here so I intend to maintain my level of concentration for the second half of the race.

Hiroyuki Sugiura: It looks like the course for trucks will be merging twice with cars. We will also be keeping an eye on speed limits as we will be passing through villages.

*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-8/rankings/stage-trucks.html#ancre

Overall ranking
https://www.dakar.com/dakar/2013/us/stage-8/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.