The Dakar 2009 Race Report (Stage 2, January 4)

The powdery sand (fesh-fesh) in Patagonia caused turbulence in this stage.

Santa Rosa (Argentina) - Puerto Madryn (Argentina)
SS 237 km, Connection 600 km, Total: 837 km

The second day targeted Puerto Madryn in Chubut Province, right in the center of Patagonia. What with the long connection extending 600 km to the next bivouac, after the 237 km SS (Special Stage), the total distance of 837 km made it the longest distance of the rally. The SS course on this day had sandy surfaces from the beginning. As there were fesh-fesh (powdery sand) on its way, many vehicles got stuck on the narrow roads and prevented other vehicles from moving ahead. Many vehicles therefore had to dive into the bushes to avoid them, but this caused some chaos. The external panels of two of our vehicles were badly scratched. However, Car 2 became 16th, and Car 1 finished 24th in the Camion division.
Water temperatures rose as the road surfaces were tough in hot weather, but otherwise there was no trouble. Both vehicles arrived safely at the bivouac which utilized the military facility on the coastline in Puerto Madryn just after 7:00pm. Although the ambient temperature at the bivourac had reached 35 degrees Celsius earlier, it had become much more comfortable by this time of the evening.
When the seven Hino mechanics who had worked on the vehicles until 4:00am in the bivouac in Santa Rosa arrived at this bivouac, they immediately started working on the vehicles.

Standings (Stage 2) Pos. No. Driver Make Time 1 505 DE ROOY GINAF 02:21:42 2 506 KABIROV KAMAZ 02:23:42 3 509 VAN VLIET GINAF 02:30:20 4 501 CHAGIN KAMAZ 02:31:04 5 508 MARDEEV KAMAZ 02:41:28 6 516 MACIK LIAZ 02:50:00 7 520 SPACIL LIAZ 02:50:54 8 519  KIES GINAF 02:51:33 9 510 VILA ROCA MERCEDES 02:51:53 10 500 STACEY MAN 02:54:09 16 513 T.SUGAWARA HINO 03:07:42 24 511 Y.SUGAWARA HINO 03:22:41

Standings (Overall) Pos. No. Driver Make Time 1 505 DE ROOY GINAF 05:36:51 2 505 KABIROV KAMAZ 05:40:49 3 509 VAN VLIET GINAF 05:45:27 4 501  CHAGIN KAMAZ 05:49:43 5 508 MARDEEV KAMAZ 05:56:57 6 504 DE AZEVEDO TATRA 06:13:16 7 516 MACIK LIAZ 06:20:57 8 520 SPACIL LIAZ 06:21:32 9 519 KIES GINAF 06:22:20 10 527 VAN DEN BRINK GINAF 06:28:16 15 513 T.SUGAWARA HINO 06:43:23 19 511 Y.SUGAWARA HINO 07:00:51

 

 

Teruhito Sugawara explaining the situation to Mechanic Nakamura.	The two Hino 500 Series vehicles arriving at Puerto Madryn.
Navigator Hamura and mechanics discussing vehicle works.

Yoshimasa Sugawara (Car 1 Driver)
“If yesterday was the first real trial of the upper body, today was the first running-in of the suspension. It really was a hard day. It seemed as if the organizer wanted all of us to take this sandy course to deliberately experience trying conditions. We drove into the bushes to avoid all those cars stuck everywhere on the sandy roads.”

Katsumi Hamura (Car 1 Navigator)
“Although there are many minute items that we want the mechanics to inspect and repair, it does not mean that we are experiencing real trouble. It was a trying day as roads were quite narrow and dusty from fesh-fesh (powdery sand) -- many vehicles got stuck.”

Teruhito Sugawara (Car 2 Driver)
“Many vehicles got stuck. There were some off-piste sections in the mid stage, where all the trees were cut. After that, there were sandy hills to climb, and areas especially made for the rally. It was not a course to enjoy, but rather one that advised caution in order not to lose our concentration.”

Seiichi Suzuki (Car 2 Navigator)
“It was a stage which involved dust, and narrow and sandy roads, so we were cautious of water temperature, power train, and any increase in oil temperature. We had to decelerate our driving pace towards the latter part of this course.”