News Release
Hino Motors competes again in the 2009 Dakar Rally aiming at its 18th consecutive course finish and a victory in the under 10-liter
Hino Motors, Ltd. (Hino) will again participate in the Dakar Rally which will start on January 3, 2009. The rally raid will be held in Latin America for the first time in history. Two units of the medium-duty trucks “Hino 500 series” are ready to compete in the Camion (truck) division. Hino aims at achieving not only at the 18th consecutive course finish since Hino’s first entry in 1991, but also a victory in the under 10-liter class.
The 2009 Dakar Rally marks its 30th race, and the total entry of 530 units in all divisions with drivers from 49 nationalities marks its biggest ever. This year’s cross-country route is a round trip between two oceans: Buenos Aires (Argentina) on the Atlantic Ocean and Valparaiso (Chile) on the Pacific Ocean. The course includes tough natural terrain, such as the Andes and the Atacama Desert.
Hino will compete in the race as part of “HINO TEAM SUGAWARA” lead by Yoshimasa Sugawara, a man proud of his 25 consecutive entries in the rally (as featured in the Guinness Book of World Records). He holds an unbroken record of 19 consecutive course finishes up to the last event. Hino fully supports the team, mainly by building the vehicles for the race and by sending 7 of its technical experts from the Hino group as mechanic crew to maintain and tune the trucks on site.
According to a change in the FIA regulation, the Camion division entrants are divided into Production Trucks and Modified Trucks from 2009. This change is expected to bring more excitement and closer competition to the race. Under the new rule, the Hino 500 series, improved and upgraded from the units which competed in the last event, belongs to the Modified Trucks group.
Hino’s first entry into the Dakar Rally goes back to 1991, and was the first entrant from among all the Japanese truck manufacturers. Since then, Hino has never failed to renew its records of entry and course finishes every year. One of Hino’s outstanding achievements is a first-ever dominant victory of 1st, 2nd and 3rd places in the Camion division in 1997. Not only have they finished courses of the world’s most grueling rally raid every year, but also Hino trucks have demonstrated very close finishes against monster camions of more than double the size of their engine displacement. In the 2009 Rally, Hino will again battle for a victory in the class of under 10 liters, in addition to an 18th course finish with a good record.
The Dakar Rally is one of Hino’s challenges to prove the reliability and durability of Hino trucks. As a global brand now, Hino further continues its battle for the even better records.
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| Hino truck that won the Under 10-liter class of Camion division in the 2007 Dakar Rally |
| Please visit our website (http://www.hino-global.com) to enjoy the daily on-site report during the event (January 3 -18, 2009) |
(Reference)
Overview of the 2009 Dakar Rally
| Organizer: | ASO (Amaury Sports Organization) |
| Schedule: | Start: January 3, 2009 (from Buenos Aires, Argentina) Finish: January 18, 2009 (in Buenos Aires, Argentina) |
| Route: | Argentina, Chile |
| Total mileage: | 9,574km (of which 5,652km, the longest over the past 5 years, will be the specials of the time trial) |
Changes in the classification of the Camion division:
According to the new FIA regulation, Camion division will be divided as shown below, and Hino trucks will compete in Group T4.1.2 (Modified Trucks of less than 10 liters):
*In the 2009 Dakar Rally, “Challenge under 10 liters of cubic capacity” will be competed by all the entrants in both Production Trucks and Modified Trucks. Hino won this class every year since this class was created.
Team
| Team name: | Hino Team Sugawara | |||
| Vehicle: | Hino 500 series (2 units) | |||
| Division/class: | Camion division / Modified Trucks of under 10 liters | |||
| Members: |
< Hino 500 series #1 >
|
Hino in the Dakar Rally
Hino’s first year in the Dakar Rally was back in 1991 as the first entrant from among Japanese truck manufacturers. In 1994, only three years after its first entry, Hino gained 2nd place in the overall Camion division, followed by another 2nd place the next year in 1995. In 1996 Hino enhanced the team arrangement to realize its desire to be the best, then in 1997 it became the first entrant to dominantly win the 1st, 2nd and 3rd places in the Camion division. Since then, Hino has been presented itself as one of the top teams in the Camion division. Hino is also proud of other outstanding achievements, such as achieving 2nd place in the overall Camion division 3 times, and 7 consecutive wins in the class of trucks with up to 10 liters between 1996 and 2002. Hino won 1st place 2 more times in 2005 and 2007, when the same classifications by engine displacement were revived.
Entry
Year
Route
Distance (km)
Vehicle
Result (Camion division /under 10-liter class)
-
2008
Canceled
-
-
-
17
2007
Lisbon - Dakar
7,915
Hino 500 series
9th, 13th/Winner (only the winner was awarded)
16
2006
Lisbon - Dakar
9,043
5th, 7th/ NA
15
2005
Barcelona - Dakar
8,956
2nd, 6th/ Winner (only the winner was awarded)
14
2004
Clermont-Ferrand - Dakar
10,411
5th/ NA
13
2003
Marseille - Sharm El Sheikh
8,602
5th/ NA
12
2002
Arras - Madrid - Dakar
9,440
3rd/ Winner (7th consecutive victory in this class)
11
2001
Paris - Dakar
10,873
2nd/ Winner
10
2000
Paris - Dakar - Cairo
7,880
5th/ Winner
9
1999
Granada - Dakar
9,441
4th/ Winner
8
1998
Paris - Granada - Dakar
10,570
2nd/ Winner
7
1997
Dakar - Agades - Dakar
8,051
Winner, 2nd, 3rd/ Winner, 2nd, 3rd (First dominant victory recorded in the Camion division)
6
1996
Granada - Dakar
7,579
6th,11th/ Winner, 2nd
5
1995
Granada - Dakar
10,067
2nd/ NA
4
1994
Paris - Dakar - Paris
13,398
2nd/ NA
3
1993
Paris - Dakar
8,877
6th/ NA
2
1992
Paris - Sirte - Cape Town
13,015
4th,5th, 6th, 10th/ NA
1
1991
Paris - Tripoli - Dakar
9,186
7th, 10th, 14th/ NA (The first entrant from among all the Japanese truck manufacturers)
