Race Report 2020
Hino Takes 11th Straight Win in the Under 10-liter Class!
Finishes in the Top 10 Overall for Five Years Running in 29th Consecutive Finish!
42nd Dakar Rally 2020 Saudi Arabia
Hino Team Sugawara competed from January 5 to 17 in the Dakar Rally 2020, held in Saudi Arabia for the first time. The team entered two vehicles in the Truck Division, a Hino 500 Series and a Hino 600 Series. Driver Teruhito Sugawara piloted the former to the Under 10-liter Class championship in the Truck Division to secure an 11th consecutive class victory for the team.
The first iteration of the event in Saudi Arabia took place across diverse terrain ranging from sand and dirt to rocks and dunes. A robust and improved undercarriage designed for the rally coupled with the driving skills and wealth of experience of Teruhito Sugawara helped Hino Team Sugawara boldly challenge more powerful rivals in the field and finish 10th overall in the Truck Division.
“The difficulty of the course was lower than anticipated and this gave our medium-duty trucks fewer chances to capitalize against heavy-duty rivals. But we are able to race a solid race, win our class again and finish in the top 10 overall, and that was good. This year we raced with an additional navigator on board for a three-person crew. This extra set of eyes was a big help. Having three people also made it possible to fix flat tires in roughly half the 20 minutes normally required and that was also a major plus,” Sugawara said in a post-race interview.
Sugawara leverages his driving expertise to go on the attack piloting Car 1
This time, driver Ikuo Hanawa joined the team for the first time piloting Car 2 in his first Dakar Rally.
Aiming to follow the example of Car 1 and the team’s abundant off-road experience to reach the goal near the top in the overall truck category, Hanawa experienced trouble early. The rear body of Car 2 suffered damage early in Stage 2 and was unable to participate in Stage 3 as he dedicated himself to restoring the truck to racing condition. He rejoined the race from Stage 4 although out of the running for a place or the title, but in Stage 9 the vehicle’s in-cab roll bar cracked. It was determined that the safety of the team could not be guaranteed leading to a disappointing withdrawal from the competition, however, valuable vehicle data was gathered during the race.
“Car 2 was newly developed. Trial and error is a process that is often comes with trouble and there were a number of things that we couldn’t really know how they would play out until we were racing. It was my first time to compete in a rally in a truck and just as things were getting interesting we had to withdraw. It was an unfortunate way to end the race, but it was an incredible experience,” Hanawa said.
Car 2 boldly racing across the terrain of Saudi Arabia
The rally course did not feature the altitude and massive dunes of South America resulting in a relatively lower level of difficulty. Overall 65.5% of competitors completed the race, a figure higher than the 57.8% of the last rally. Detailed results were as follows: 342 vehicles departed Jeddah (144 bikes, 23 quads, 83 cars, 46 SSVs and 46 trucks) and of these 96 bikes, 12 quads, 57 cars, 31 SSVs and 28 trucks successfully completed the rally by arriving in Qiddiya.
Hino Team Sugawara cheering and rejoicing
Truck Division Overall Results
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| Ranking | Maker | Time | difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | KAMAZ | 46:33:36 | - |
| 2 | KAMAZ | 47:16:02 | 0:42:26 |
| 3 | MAZ | 48:38:18 | 2:04:42 |
| 4 | KAMAZ | 49:29:04 | 2:55:28 |
| 5 | IVECO | 50:01:44 | 3:28:08 |
| 6 | IVECO | 51:00:33 | 4:26:57 |
| 7 | PRAGA | 51:50:33 | 5:16:57 |
| 8 | MAZ | 51:58:06 | 5:24:30 |
| 9 | TATRA | 52:41:29 | 6:07:53 |
| 10(1) | HINO | 52:52:15 | 6:18:39 |
Note: Parentheses indicate the finishing position in the Under 10-liter Class.
HINO TEAM SUGAWARA: Dakar Rally 2020 Team Members
Car 1 (Hino Ranger)
Driver: Teruhito Sugawara (Japan Racing Management)
Navigator: Hirokazu Somemiya (Rally Stream)
Navigator: Yuji Mochizuki（Hino Motors)
Car 2: (Truck designed for North American market)
Driver: Ikuo Hanawa (Summit Racing Promotions)
Navigator: Yudai Hanawa (Summit Racing Promotions)
Navigator: Mayumi Kezuka (Japan Racing Management)
Mechanics:
Yasunori Nagata (Higashi Hokkaido Hino Motors)
Yasufumi Watanabe (Tokyo Hino Motors)
Keisuke Watanabe (Gunma Hino Motors)
Koichiro Hoshijima (Okayama Hino Motors)
Seiichi Suzuki (Japan Racing Management)
Kengo Takasugi (Ken.Factory）
Koji Yoshikawa (Japan Racing Management)
Koki Seino (Hino Motors)
Shinji Kitagawa (Hino Motors)
Masataka Nishiyama (Hino Motors)
Ryo Ishii (Hino Motors)
Support Crew:
Rumi Ando (Japan Racing Management)
Shun Konnai (Japan Racing Management)
Tsugio Kameda（Hino Motors)
Naoto Nakatsuka (Hino Motors Middle East)
Kazuki Ishida (Hino Motors)
Rally Route Map
Dakar Rally 2020 Distance by Stage and Overall
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| Date | Stage | Start | Finish | Total | SS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan. 5 (Sun.) | Stage 1 | Jeddah | Al Wajh | 752 | 319 |
| Jan. 6 (Mon.) | Stage 2 | Al Wajh | Neom | 401 | 367 |
| Jan. 7 (Tue.) | Stage 3 | Neom | Neom | 489 | 404 |
| Jan. 8 (Wed.) | Stage 4 | Neom | Al Ula | 676 | 453 |
| Jan. 9 (Thur.) | Stage 5 | Al Ula | Ha'il | 563 | 353 |
| Jan. 10 (Fri.) | Stage 6 | Ha'il | Riyadh | 830 | 478 |
| Jan. 11 (Sat.) | Rest day | Riyadh | - | - | |
| Jan. 12 (Sun.) | Stage 7 | Riyadh | Wadi Al-Dawasir | 741 | 546 |
| Jan. 13 (Mon.) | Stage 8 | Wadi Al-Dawasir | Wadi Al-Dawasir | 713 | 474 |
| Jan. 14 (Tue.) | Stage 9 | Wadi Al-Dawasir | Haradh | 891 | 415 |
| Jan. 15 (Wed.) | Stage 10 | Haradh | Shubaytah | 608 | 534 |
| Jan. 16 (Thur.) | Stage 11 | Shubaytah | Haradh | 744 | 379 |
| Jan. 17 (Fri.) | Stage 12 | Haradh | Qiddiya | 447 | 374 |
| Total (km) | 7865 | 5097 | |||
Competitors and Completion Rate by Division
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| Division | Entered | Finished | Completion rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bike Division | 144 | 96 | 66.6% |
| Quad (buggy) Division | 23 | 12 | 52.1% |
| Car Division | 83 | 57 | 68.6% |
| SSV (Side by Side Vehicle) Division | 46 | 31 | 67.3% |
| Truck Division | 46 | 28 | 60.8% |
| Total | 342 | 224 | 65.5% |