On June 11, as a slightly nervous-looking Ms. Wakabayashi arrived at a conference room in Hino HQ filled with project members from Hino Motors and Japan Racing Management (JRM), Teruhito Sugawara explained to attendees that the team would be welcoming Ms. Wakabayashi as a new member.

"Since 2005, our team had consistently been entering two-person crews in the Dakar Rally," Teruhito Sugawara explained. "This meant that there were only two of us, for example, if we had to replace a tire in a special stage. Whereas it would usually take 15 to 20 minutes for a three-person crew to do this, for two people, it would take a minimum of 40 minutes - and up to about 50 minutes depending on conditions. Additionally, the Dakar Rally in the past few years has shifted from being a three-week exploration race, such as we had in Africa, to a full racing event where every second counts, bringing on a dramatic increase in the level of difficulty and workload for navigators.

"We often say, 'With two of us, we have four eyes on the lookout.' With three people, we will naturally have six eyes, which means we will be able to expand our vision and boost our racing capability. We had been mulling the addition of a new member for quite some time, as almost all the teams from other countries field three-person crews.

"While covering our races at Rally Mongolia as a writer, Ms. Wakabayashi started to feel an urge to actually take part in the race. So we began by teaching her about navigation, and being a very quick learner, she improved in a very short amount of time. One thing led to another, and we decided to have her join our crew on Car 1. As for Car 2, I started out as a navigator myself and am capable of doing some navigation while I drive, so we will make do for the time being with our two-person crew.

"Mr. Hamura, an excellent navigator who has a great deal of rally experience under his belt, has navigated for Car 1 over the years. By adding Ms. Wakabayashi's quick-response capability to the crew to create an even more solid team, I believe we have a sure recipe for improving our performance. Car 1 will also be aiming to improve its overall rankings in the next race, so your support will be greatly appreciated."

This was followed by words of appreciative expectation for Ms. Wakabayashi from Katsumi Hamura, whom she will be joining on Car 1.

"As Mr. Teruhito Sugawara mentioned earlier, navigating the Dakar Rally has become increasingly challenging in the past few years, particularly in the area of finding checkpoints," Mr. Hamura said. "I believe Car 1 will get a dramatic boost to its racing capabilities with the addition of Ms. Wakabayashi to our crew, and I intend to give it my best as well. I would like to thank everyone in advance for their support."

In closing, Yoshimasa Sugawara, as team director and driver of Car 1, expressed his commitment to the next Dakar Rally as the team welcomes a new crew member.

"With Ms. Wakabayashi joining our team, we have managed to lower the average age of our crew in one fell swoop," Yoshimasa Sugawara said to laughter. "Once the rally starts, my job for the night is to sleep, so I usually retire to my tent after just a brief meeting. We are probably the only team where the driver and navigator sleep in the same tent. He (Katsumi Hamura) usually isn't back in the tent until around 3:00 in the morning, which tells me that he's been studying the next day's course all that time. But sleep deprivation isn't good for our physical condition, and has a definite effect on our daytime performance in the rally. With Ms. Wakabayashi joining our crew, our plan is to create a system where the two of them can work on navigation together, cross-checking all the details.

"After Ms. Wakabayashi's inclusion in the team was finalized, she asked us about how to change tires. But we will still be doing the actual tire changing, as this is a task where beginners can easily injure themselves. Instead, she will be taking care of the many preparatory and finishing tasks before and after the actual tire change, such as putting the jack hose back in place, which will enable us to finish our work more quickly.

"Actually, there is one disadvantage to having an additional crew member, and that is that we will be hauling more weight. Our weight-cutting efforts go as far as removing the cores from toilet paper rolls, and in the past we've even raced without air conditioning. But our intention is to have the advantages of having Ms. Wakabayashi on the crew greatly outweigh any weight disadvantages. In next year's rally, both Car 1 and Car 2 will be working together to achieve a good performance, so I would like to thank everyone in advance for their support."