The Dakar 2009 Race Report (Stage 8, January 11)

The vehicles steadily digested the running-in on the first day of the latter half of the rally.

Valparaiso to La Serena
Connection 245 km, SS 294 km, Connection 113 km, Total: 652 km

The second half of the Dakar 2009 has begun. The course was set to drive north from Valparaiso to La Serena, 652 km along the Pacific coast. The course was gravel and narrow and winding, and full of challenges for camions. There were some corners so sharp and narrow, which required to turn back and forth in order to go around them. Perhaps for this reason, the SS for the camions on this day was finished partway, at the 179 km CP1 (Check Point 1), shortened from original distance of 294 km. Car 2 (with Teruhito Sugawara and Seiichi Suzuki), the Hino 500 Series of Hino Team Sugawara, put up a good fight, marking 16th position in the Camion division. It became 10th overall, calculated for the accumulated time of all SS, and kept top place among vehicles with an engine displacement of less than 10 liters. Moreover, Car 1 (with Yoshimasa Sugawara and Katsumi Hamura) which strove to drive particularly prudently, came in 36th. It was also so steady that it obtained 25th overall. The next three days will be the climax stages of this rally including courses with many dunes. However, it is anticipated that the latter half of the SS will be slightly shortened tomorrow, and that the dune section will be shortened as well (this should reduce the degree of difficulty).

Yoshimasa Sugawara (Car 1 Driver)
“Today’s course was dangerous for the camions, as we had to drive along mountainous roads facing the cliff. We were lucky we could drive with better visibility without dust, as the distance between the vehicles had increased. We suffered no trouble whatsoever, so the real race starts tomorrow.”

Katsumi Hamura (Car 1 Navigator)
“We had no problem with navigation on the first day of the latter half of the race. As the dunes in the latter half of the SS will be difficult to drive through, it would perhaps be good if the courses were shortened.”

Teruhito Sugawara (Car 2 Driver)
“It was like WRC -- mountainous roads with hard surfaces. Although we allowed a fast camion which came from behind to overtake us, we actually caught up with and passed it when it was still in the sharp turn.”

Seiichi Suzuki (Car 2 Navigator)
“Well, this course was just dangerous, not difficult nor interesting to the navigators. I was thinking about repairing the rear panel during servicing on the rest day, but we may postpone this for a while as it could sustain more damage once we are back in the dunes.”

Yasushi Nakamura (Mechanic)
“Car 1 encountered a trouble in the first half of the rally, which was something we did not foresee. We thought we should reconsider what parts to bring to the site, according to the location of the race. Moreover, when we removed the intercooler and cleaned the area around the radiator, we found a large amount of mud dust which we never had in Africa. We assume this was one of the causes of the water temperature rise. In any case, as the team is the same as in 2008, the service teamwork is also extremely good. We are all on good terms.”

Shigetoshi Kudo (Mechanic)
“I was not sure what work to do in the beginning. However, now I can handle the work with more confidence. Although we are tired, we are striving hard and the team spirit is very good.”

Junpei Morita (Mechanic)
“A lot of repair work that we did yesterday, on our rest day, involved crafting parts to repair those that were damaged. We did not set a good pace in the beginning, but we have now come to understand how we should all work. The point is to decide for what purposes the limited amount of materials and tools should be used.”

Eiji Wakabayashi (Mechanic)
“We have now gotten used to sleeping during transit in our assistance vehicles. Even while we are all seated in a small space, we can actually sleep deeply, even for short stretches of time. The service work is progressing steadily. The main work today is to check the parts that we replaced on the rest day.”

Kazuto Sugimoto (Mechanic)
“We spent more time than we anticipated preparing or tidying up before and after servicing. Although we were perplexed in the beginning by the requirements of working at the site, we are now used to this. We are feeling sleepy, but we are keeping up a good pace.”

Kimihiro Takekawa (Mechanic)
“The time up to now elapsed so quickly. It seems as if we have come directly from our participation in France (when we were making preparations at the end of 2007). The dust during the first three days of this rally was so severe.”

Mitsuhiro Urabe (Mechanic)
“I am in top shape except for a lack of sleep. I have no inconvenience about working on the sand, but I feel it is different from our normal work - especially when I find no special tools with us, and when I have to wait for others to finish using the tools I need.”

 

Car 1 aiming at catch-up in the latter half of the race.	Car 2 crew members safely finished the first day of the latter half of the race.
Car 1 has arrived at La Serena.	Yoshimasa Sugawara reading messages of encouragement in the bivouac.