HINO TEAM SUGAWARA entered two HINO500 Series trucks in Dakar Rally 2018, which kicked off on Jan. 6, 2018 and finished on Jan. 20, taking teams through three countries starting off in Peru and on to Bolivia before reaching the finish line in Argentina.
Driver Teruhito Sugawara won the Under 10-litre Class championship in the Trucks category for a ninth straight Class win, breaking the team’s record. Thanks to the excellent mobility of the HINO500 Series truck as well as Teruhito Sugawara’s driving skills and extensive rally experience. The medium-duty truck also entered the Trucks category where all of the top teams fielded heavy-duty trucks that were powered by engines with displacements exceeding 10 litres. They finished at 6th place overall in the Trucks category―up from 8th place last year.

The “Ironman of Dakar,” Yoshimasa Sugawara, broke the Dakar Rally record and world record this year with his 35th consecutive entry since his first entry in the Bikes category of the Paris-Dakar Rally (as it was called then) in 1983. While his truck was bogged down in a dune in stage 2 and forced to retire early in the race this year, Yoshimasa Sugawara says, “I am going to leave all of that behind and get to work to put on a good race next year. The course design was quite challenging this year and I think Teruhito did a great job,” praising his son as he renewed his ambitions for next year’s event.

With dunes in the early half of the rally, highlands in the mid-section, and long stages towards the end, this year’s rally challenged contestants with a course design that most teams assessed as being the most punishing since the rally’s relocation to South America. Indeed, only 19 out of 44 starting trucks, or just 43%, made it to the finish line, making this the first time the finish rate fell below 50% since the rally’s relocation to South America in 2009. This marked Hino Motors’ 27th straight finish since its first entry in 1991 as the first Japanese maker of commercial vehicles, and in achieving this feat, it has attracted attention from around the world and succeeded in demonstrating its formidable presence.

Result of the truck division

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*(): Under 10-liter Class

Car 1 Yoshimasa Sugawara and Katsumi Hamura trapped in dunes on stage2 and forced to withdraw from the rally.

「HINO TEAM SUGAWARA」　Dakar Rally 2018 Team Member

Car 1
Driver: Yoshimasa SUGAWARA
Navigator: Katsumi Hamura

Car 2
Driver: Teruhito SUGAWARA
Navigator: Hiroyuki Sugiura

Mechanic leader: Seiichi Suzuki
Mechanic sub-leader: Yoichi Okabe, Hino Motors
Mechanics:
Yuki Takano, Gunma Hino Motor, Ltd.
Hiroki Kinoshita, Yokohama Hino Motor, Ltd.
Aiichiro Yamauchi, Toyama Hino Motor, Ltd.
Ryota Shibutani, Kobe Hino Motor, Ltd.

Support car driver:
Koji Tanaka
Masaki Satoh
Daigo Maruta

Support member: Mayumi Kezuka

Route Map

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Number of Entrants

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