"The Dakar Rally continues to evolve."

HINO TEAM SUGAWARA has continued to race against European monster trucks which are designed specifically for racing and have more than twice the engine displacement than the trucks that Hino has entered. While Hino trucks have always caught the attention of the public as a worthy rival to these monster trucks, the speed and power of these trucks have increased dramatically since the race relocated to South America, making for much more intense competition in the higher rankings. As the various teams continued to enhance their performance levels, organizers designated race courses with increasing levels of difficulty, essentially transforming the Dakar Rally into a "racing rally" that incorporated elements of an "adventure rally."

"Team employs new systems to achieve further performance enhancements."

In the 2012 race, the team employed a mid-ship engine layout, shed 300kg of weight, and improved their trucks' cooling performance to win their third consecutive class championship and reduce their time difference with the overall leader by 10%. With a firm footing in these accomplishments, HINO TEAM SUGAWARA will be making further performance enhancements to its trucks for the 2013 race, which will be the second year of a 3-year plan that began at the 2012 race. The trucks will be powered by a common rail engine that produces powerful torque at low engine speeds. Their suspensions will be given a new axle with a hub reduction* mechanism for maintaining a good minimum ground height to improve terrain traversing capability. And the axles will be fitted with disk brakes for better braking performance and operability.

* Hub reduction: A design where reduction gears are incorporated in the wheel hub in order to increase minimum ground height, which is a crucial element in improving traversing capability over uneven terrain. This design allows for smaller differential gears, enabling designers to reduce the size of the differential gear case and achieve a higher minimum ground height for the axle.

"Taking on a challenge with no fear of risks"

While equipping vehicles with a new power train is inherently risky as such changes can lead to unforeseen problems during the race, HINO TEAM SUGAWARA has dared to take on this challenge in what it considers to be a "year of challenges" in order to aim for even higher standings in the race. This year again, the best and brightest of Hino's development departments have come together to create new racing trucks as a way to prove the "excellent durability and reliability" of Hino vehicles.

These trucks will be piloted by Yoshimasa Sugawara - "Japanese Legend in Dakar" who achieved a record 30 consecutive entries at the 2012 race, and is holder of the most consecutive finishes in the Dakar Rally at 20 - and his second son Teruhito Sugawara, HINO TEAM SUGAWARA's ace driver. These two racers, both of whom have accumulated vast amounts of know-how based on the solid feedback of race results and through their extensive experience, are working directly with developers from Hino and part manufacturers to develop the new trucks - "HINO's Little Monsters" - as part of their effort to once again take on monster trucks with larger engine displacements.