Dakar Rally 2015 Race Report - Stage 1

Jan 5, 2015

Much Anticipated Dakar Rally 2015 Kicks Off
Team is off to a good start in the first SS of the race with a 1-2 finish in the Under 10-litre Class.

Car 2 piloted by Teruhito Sugawara and Hiroyuki Sugiura

January 4, the much anticipated Dakar Rally 2015 kicked off to its first day of competition. On this day, contestants competed on a 175km SS between Buenos Aires and Villa Carlos Paz, Argentina (The Cars category took a slightly different route for a 170km SS). The scene of the day's competition was set in a flat agricultural region located 144km northwest of Buenos Aires which featured hard gravel (unpaved) roads. Although the stage included long straights where vehicles could pick up speed, it was virtually impossible to overtake other vehicles as visibility was very limited due to dust.

The crew of both HINO500 Series trucks maintained their composure as they tackled this high-risk SS, with Car 2 piloted by Teruhito Sugawara and Hiroyuki Sugiura coming in at 23rd place in the overall Trucks category and top in the Under 10-litre Class, and Car 1 crewed by Yoshimasa Sugawara, Yoko Wakabayashi, and Katsumi Hamura came in exactly 2 minutes later for a position of 30th overall and 2nd in the Class. Following the SS, both trucks were en route on a 519km liaison route which would take them to the first bivouac of this race at Villa Carlos Paz located in the outskirts of Cordoba. Although neither of the trucks have arrived as of 9:00pm, no problems have been reported, and the mechanics are eagerly awaiting the trucks' arrival.

The bivouac was set up on grassy land on a lakefront in this popular resort region located to the west of Cordoba. While the temperature in Buenos Aires this year was relatively cool due to inclement weather, the thermometer hit 33ºC in Villa Carlos Paz where the sun was in full blaze, giving team members a taste of summer in the southern hemisphere.

On January 5, contestants will already be competing on a long 518km SS on their way to San Juan. This SS may very well turn out to be the first difficult stages of this year's race.

* 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.