Car 2 finishes the SS in good form at 17th overall.

January 7: Dakar Rally 2016 crossed the border into Bolivia where teams competed on a 327km SS between Jujuy and Uyuni. The itinerary for the day had contestants travel on a 281km liaison segment starting off from Jujuy in northern Argentina, before crossing the Argentine-Bolivian border. This was followed by a highland SS where the average elevation went as high as 4000m. The road surfaces this day were dramatically diverse, transitioning from piste (unpaved road) weaving around barren hilly areas to wadis (dry riverbeds) and mountain pass crossings. Due to thundershowers, the terrain was dotted with puddles, and the road surfaces in numerous areas were wet and slippery. In the latter half of the day, contestants passed an area at an elevation of 4700m during a mountain pass crossing, the highest point in this year’s rally.

Since this was the second day of a marathon segment, contestants had to race the SS without having received any servicing in Jujuy. Other than Car 2 experiencing a slow-leaking puncture the previous day, HINO TEAM SUGAWARA’s two HINO500 Series trucks encountered no problems at all, and delivered great performance again this day. Driving Car 2 in an aggressive but controlled fashion, the Teruhito Sugawara and Hiroyuki Sugiura crew finished at 17th overall and top in the Under 10-litre Class. While Car 1 would not arrive at the bivouac before sundown, the Yoshimasa Sugawara and Mitsugu Takahashi crew finished at 38th overall and 3rd in the class.

The SS was followed by a 33km liaison to the bivouac in Uyuni, which was set up on the premises of a military camp. This was the third time Dakar Rally used this bivouac, but the first time for the Trucks category. The site was situated at an elevation of 3500m, so although the sunlight was intense, the winds were cold even during the day. After sundown, light rain started to fall along with strong winds, and the temperature dropped precipitously. This turned out to be another challenging night of work for the mechanics.

Yoshimasa Sugawara: Today’s course was full of places that were scary for trucks such as narrow roads on the sides of cliffs and bends that we couldn’t get around without doing a K-turn. I didn’t get a headache at high elevations, and felt completely fine for some reason.

Mitsugu Takahashi: We were surprised when the SS’s finish line appeared 5km nearer than we expected. We learned that the organizers had to relocate it due to the huge crowd gathered at the original finish line. I had a lot of fun today as we drove through some areas with amazing sights.

Teruhito Sugawara: Although there was a vast diversity of terrain today, we made a point of going at full speed as much as we could. This year’s suspension gives us excellent handleability and riding comfort regardless of terrain or speed, so we’ve been able to drive the truck quite comfortably.

Hiroyuki Sugiura: I wasn’t feeling very well at high elevations. I seem to start to feel the effects above 4000m.