Car 2 finishes the loop SS―set at an average elevation of 3500m―in 19th place.

January 6: This day, contestants raced on a 419km loop course that was based out of San Salvador Jujuy in northern Argentina. This SS, which was set in the intermountain areas near the Bolivian border, has been used a number of times in previous races. At an average elevation of 3500m and peaking out at 4100m, this was the first full-blown highland stage for this year’s race. For the next several days, contestants will be racing at high elevations, and on January 7, when teams travel to Uyuni in Bolivia, they will be passing through the highest point in this year’s rally at 4700m.

On this day, contestants traveled on a 100km liaison from the bivouac in Jujuy to the start/finish point of the day’s SS which was situated at an elevation of 3800m. From there, they raced one clockwise lap on the loop course. Trucks were designated a different route from that of Bikes and Cars in the mountain road section in the first part of the SS for a total driving distance of 419km which was 10km shorter than that for Bikes and Cars. Midway through the SS, the course opened up to an expansive piste, setting the stage for high-speed racing where contestants were able to hold their top speeds for long periods of time.

HINO TEAM SUGAWARA’s HINO500 Series trucks leveraged their excellent mobility and did very well in this SS. Car 2 piloted by Teruhito Sugawara and Hiroyuki Sugiura finished at 19th overall and top in the Under 10-litre Class. Car 1 crewed by Yoshimasa Sugawara and Mitsugu Takahashi also did very well finishing at 30th overall and 2nd in the class. This marked the team’s first one-two class finish in this year’s rally.

This day was designated a marathon stage, which meant that vehicles were not allowed to receive servicing from their assistance crews at the bivouac (Assistance crews had already departed for Bolivia, and will be spending the night of the 6th at a special bivouac set up in Tarija, Bolivia). This year’s marathon stage came with a new twist where the vehicles were placed in the Parc-Fermes after the day’s competition and even their crews were not allowed touch them. So all vehicles will be starting the race the following day on the 7th in the condition that they were when they arrived at Jujuy. As for the HINO500 Series trucks, although a slow-leaking puncture was found on Car 2’s left front tire just before the day’s start which the team promptly replaced, neither of the trucks had any problems at the end of the day’s competition, and both will be heading out for Bolivia in good shape.

Yoshimasa Sugawara: There was a river crossing today where a number of trucks were stuck, and we did very well as we were able to find an alternate crossing point. This was thanks to our experience in Mongolia, so I’m very proud of that.

Mitsugu Takahashi: I’m starting to get a hang of navigating, but I’ve still got more to learn. I seem to be fine with high altitudes as I didn’t feel any discomfort.

Teruhito Sugawara: Today’s course was one that we’ve raced on many times. There were areas where everyone could just keep going at full speed, and even in these areas, we were able to catch up with trucks ahead of us. This was another confirmation for me of the engine’s upgraded performance. We used oxygen supplementing equipment at high elevations. This worked very well and kept us comfortable.

Hiroyuki Sugiura: Navigation wasn’t that busy today, but again, the speed limit markings at the villages were complicated so I had to be very careful. We noticed the slow-leaking puncture before we left the bivouac so we replaced the tire just in case.