Ceremonial Start is Held in the Plaza de Mayo Facing the Presidential Office.
The two HINO500 Series trucks leave the podium in good form.

January 3, the ceremonial start for Dakar Rally 2015 was held in the Plaza de Mayo facing the presidential office in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The event of the day was ceremonial in the literal sense of the word, with racing vehicles returning to the vehicle storage in the Technopolis after they were paraded to the audience at the podium. The contestants will actually start the rally and race to their first bivouac early in the morning on January 4. In any case, this being a ceremonial event celebrating the start of the race, an audience of reportedly several hundred thousand people gathered at the square and lined the streets, making this start a befitting one of a South American country.

Partly due to delays in the event's proceedings, it was at around 9:00 pm that HINO TEAM SUGAWARA's two HINO500 Series trucks -- Car 2 piloted by Teruhito Sugawara and Hiroyuki Sugiura, followed by Car 1 piloted by Yoshimasa Sugawara, Yoko Wakabayashi, and Katsumi Hamura -- arrived at the podium facing the presidential palace, aka the Pink House, which stands by one of the canals running through the city. After the crew members shook hands with the team's mechanics on stage, the crew sounded their trucks' horns in response to the cheering crowd as they made their ceremonial start.

On January 4, the contestants will start on their first day of the race to Villa Carlos Paz on the outskirts of Cordoba, Argentina. Although the SS makes up only 170km of the total distance of 833km for this day, crews will have to stay on their toes as the segment features risky high-speed sections consisting of straight tracks and right angle turns on ranch roads.

Yoshimasa Sugawara: I never cease to be awed by the passionate support of the Argentinian fans. I will be taking it easy early in the race as this is the first year where I will be driving on XZL+ tires (Michelin), and also because our suspensions have undergone major modifications.

Yoko Wakabayashi: I was just blown away by the scale of the Dakar Rally. I hope to be able to familiarize myself with my task in the first 2-3 days, including how we work together as a 3-person crew.

Katsumi Hamura: The SS for the first day is not very long, so we plan to keep an eye on the truck's different components as we proceed through the day. After all, it's been a long time since I last navigated as part of a 3-person crew.

Teruhito Sugawara: The special atmospheres at the starts from Buenos Aires are great. This year's race is rather sprint oriented. That said, we won't have to push too hard for speed because our truck's performance potential is much higher now. To that extent, I think it will be that much more straightforward for us. Our major concern is running into trouble so we will take it easy in the early part of the race.

Hiroyuki Sugiura: So here we are finally. The SS on the ranch roads will be quite dicey so we will have to stay on our toes. Initial problems are another concern because this is a new truck.

* 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.

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