Both HINO500 Series trucks do well in Fiambala, the most challenging stage of the rally.

January 13: The day's itinerary took teams from Belén to La Rioja, Argentina, with a special in the Fiambala Desert, which is considered by many to be the most challenging segment of this year's rally.

Fiambala is a basin at the foothills of the Andes, and is known for its heat, as well as its soft, white dunes, and fesh-fesh. This is area, considered to be one of the most challenging stages of the rally, has been featured in numerous Dakar Rallies since it relocated to South America. Due to the cancelation of the start and major route changes made to the first half of the rally this year, this day's stage was to be the only full-fledge desert stage, and fittingly attracted a great deal of attention.

The start time was delayed due to heavy thundershowers that beset the area early in the morning. This forced organizers to cancel the group start that was planned for all vehicles in top standings in their respective categories, and also to shorten the SS from the original 278km to 244.7km, with the finish line set at CP (checkpoint) 5.

Car 2 crewed by Teruhito Sugawara and Hiroyuki Sugiura, which made it into the top 10 in the previous day's SS, put in a solid performance this day. Starting 9th out of the start line, they advanced their position to 6th by the time they reached the neutral zone, and up to 4th place at CP 4. However, the truck got stuck towards the end of the dunes and lost about an hour of time. They finished 14th overall and top in the Under 10-litre Class.Meanwhile, Car 1 crewed by Yoshimasa Sugawara and Mitsugu Takahashi was 31st out of the gate, and steadily improved its position thanks to the solid driving delivered by its veteran driver. Car 1 finished 25th overall and 2nd in the class.Based on these results, Car 2 now climbs to 14th place, and Car 1 to 28th place in the overall Trucks category. The two trucks continue to maintain their one-two lead in the Under 10-litre Class.

The bivouac at La Rioja was set up on a racing circuit (Autodromo La Rioja) that was also used in a number of previous Dakar Rally events. In their bivouac that was set up in the circuit's run-off area, Hino team mechanics were seen performing inspection and servicing work on the two HINO500 Series trucks until early in the morning.Tomorrow, January 14, teams will travel southward from La Rioja to San Juan where they will race on a 431km SS set up on rough intermountain roads.

Yoshimasa Sugawara: It was a tough day as the sand was soft. We got stuck for about 30 minutes early in the stage, but other than that, we had no problems. Our left-front tire sprang a slow-leaking puncture towards the end, but we compensated for that using the air pressure adjuster to reach the finish line. It was a long day.

Mitsugu Takahashi: This was the first full-fledge dune stage for me, so I was even more tense than yesterday. I was amazed at some of the places that this truck could climb, and it was a tough day for me as navigation was also quite busy.

Teruhito Sugawara: The sand was deep in many areas, making this a very difficult stage. Our right-front tire sprang a slow-leaking puncture in the first half of the race so we had to compensate for that using the air pressure adjuster to keep going. We were able to replace the tire on the 15-minute neutral zone between the specials so we didn't lose any time. When we got stuck towards the end, we were able to get out thanks to a Tatra that pulled us out. The SS was such that experience more than truck performance became the deciding factor of how high you could go. I sensed the course designers' intent in that.

Hiroyuki Sugiura: It was a tough course. We saw top contenders in the Trucks category stopped along the way, so it was exciting to get a real sense that we were in a competition. This was the first time we made the fourth fastest time in a segment, so that was a confidence booster for me.

Masaki Tagoku: I haven't slept much, but I'm feeling pretty well physically. Besides, time flies when I'm working on the trucks. I feel a great sense of purpose because Car 1 has been performing without any incidents. I feel really relieved when it comes back to the bivouac.

Masato Kondo: I'm starting to feel some tiredness building up, but I perk up when I hear how well the HINO500 Series trucks are doing. I think everyone else is tired too so I intend to stay alert and make no mistakes until we reach the finish line.

Nozomi Tonoike: It's sad to think that I've only got three more days of working with this group of people. We've focused on performing safe and error-free work, and on maintaining verbal contact with each other during tough times, including when we had to stay up the whole night for days in a row. I'm grateful for being given this experience of working together to achieve one shared goal.

Hideyuki Sakaguchi: We've been working hard to ensure that the HINO500 Series trucks are able to return to the bivouac everyday, and we've come to a point where there's only a couple of more days to the finish line. It all just went by in a blink of an eye. The toughest time for me was working under the torrential rain in Jujuy on the fourth day of the rally. Nothing has come close to perturbing me after that.