1-2 finish in the category with new aluminum body truck!
1996 - GRANADA-DAKAR

As in the previous year, the route started in Granada, Spain, and ended in Dakar, Senegal, after passing through Morocco, Mauritania, Mali and Guinea, a total distance of 7,579km. Though the distance itself was shorter, it was a tough course with relatively few liaisons and it was generally thought that victory would be decided in Stage 6 in Mauritania. Moreover, the Camion category was divided into that year by displacement into Class 1, under 10 liters, and Class 2, 10 or more liters, and the Ranger was assigned to Class 1 together with the Unimog and other vehicles.

The two Rangers gradually began to show their real capabilities with the Sugawara truck off to a flying start, demonstrating its strength as it raced along briskly to lead the class, while the Shibata support truck also made it all the way through to Morocco without any problems. They improved their standing in the class day by day in the sand dune region of Mauritania, where they exhibited their strengths. By the midway point, the Sugawara truck was in seventh place and the Shibata also doing well in tenth place.

Hino finally established 1-2 positioning in the class by the tenth day of the event. They firmly maintained positions that would allow them to aim for the top by the end of the race and steadily narrowed the gap. However, given the persistent difficult passing conditions among the tree groves, they were forced into a race of endurance. Even so, the final day arrived with the Sugawara truck boosting its position up one rank higher by tenaciously pressing on ahead. Though the Hino Raising Rangers ultimately realized a 1-2 finish in their class, they ended in sixth and eleventh place in the Camion category, unable to gain the overall victory that they had longed for.

"TEAM RANGER HINO"

Overall supervisor: Katsutoshi Murosaki
Supervisor: Goro Hamaguchi
1st truck: Yoshimasa Sugawara, Katsumi Hamura, Naoko Matsumoto
2nd truck: Hideki Shibata, Seiichi Suzuki, Nao Ushioda
Air mechanics: Total 19 including Jiro Kameda (leader), Yoshimitsu Yaguchi, Hideaki Takatori, Yasushi Nakamura, Nobuhiko Munakata (Hiroshima Hino) and Hideyuki Ikemiya (Mie Hino)

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