Car 1 finishes at 33rd. Team maintains its one-two lead in the class.

Dakar Rally 2016 is now in its final stages, with three more days to go until the last day of competition on January 16. On January 14, contestants raced on a 431km SS between La Rioja and San Juan, Argentina, and battled under intense heat in a stage mixed with dried riverbeds, sandy terrain, fesh-fesh, as well as barren terrain whose surface was as hard as it was uneven. The average speed for the entire course was on the low end, and a number of vehicles were seen overheated or stuck in fesh-fesh along the way.

After letting the world take notice of HINO500 Series truck's intrinsic potential by climbing as high as 4th in time in the overall Trucks category at one point in the Fiambala stage the previous day―the highlight of this year's Dakar Rally―the Teruhito Sugawara and Hiroyuki Sugiura crew piloting HINO TEAM SUGAWARA's Car 2 remained aggressive in today's stage as well. Although the temperature soared to above 40ºC, they had no problems with their coolant temperature. Neither did they have any flats or get bogged down, finishing the SS at 13th place and top in the Under 10-litre Class. In a solid display of their tenacious driving, the Yoshimasa Sugawara and Mitsugu Takahashi crew of Car 1 finished the special at 33rd overall and 2nd in the class.

Based on these results, Car 2 finds itself in 14th place, and Car 1 in 31st in the overall Trucks category. The two trucks continue to maintain their dominance in the Under 10-litre Class, with a one-two lead in the class.

The bivouac at San Juan, situated in central Argentina at the foothills of the Andes Mountains, was set up on a racing circuit (Autódromo El Zonda) located in a rocky mountain area in the outskirts of the town. The intense sunlight coupled with heat radiating from the ground and rock surfaces heated the daytime air to over 43ºC, making this the most tortuous bivouac in this rally. Even after sundown, the temperature refused to decline, what with all the heat held in the asphalt. Nonetheless, this intense heat was no deterrent to Hino team mechanics who went about their inspections and servicing tasks.

The itinerary for tomorrow, January 15, includes a 481km SS en route to Villa Carlos Paz, which will essentially be the last timed segment for this year's rally.

Yoshimasa Sugawara: Today, we had long stretches of fesh-fesh and rough roads. Although the truck was subjected to intense vertical motions, this truck is much more comfortable to drive than our previous ones. Two more days to go. We will stay focused and give it our best.

Mitsugu Takahashi: The roads were just brutal today. I was wondering when it would start to ease up all the way to the finish line. Navigation was quite tricky towards the end, so I'm glad that we were able to make it home before sundown.

Teruhito Sugawara: I pushed quite hard today to gauge how we would compare against our larger rivals. It was a tough day in that the course required a lot of attention, but we were able to make it without falling back noticeably from the larger trucks ahead of us. That's another confirmation that we are on the right track in terms of truck development.

Hiroyuki Sugiura: There were many large gaps along the way where you could see signs of recent water flows. At the very the end, the course had us cross the same river three or four times. I think navigation was the most difficult towards the end because of the gravel covering that obscured the road surface.