On January 7, Stage6
Oruro (Bolivia) - La Paz (Bolivia)
Liaison: 227km Total: 227km

At 10 pm, Jan. 6, organizers announced that they will be canceling all competition for Jan. 7. This was due to the fact that many racers were arriving late at the bivouac because of inclement weather, and road surfaces on the SS scheduled for Jan. 7 had become too rough due to the ongoing rain. All vehicles were redirected to a liaison route that took them directly to La Paz. This meant that competition for the first half of the rally concluded on Jan. 6. Tomorrow, on Jan. 8, team crews will have a day of rest, and prepare for the second half beginning on Jan. 9.

La Paz, the capital city of Bolivia, is situated in a bowl-shaped basin at an elevation of 3200 to 3600m. This having been the first time for the Dakar Rally to make a stop in La Paz, the sides of the liaison route were packed with hundreds of thousands of La Pazians who came to get a glimpse of vehicles competing in the rally. A podium had also been set up in the city center. It was around 6 pm when the HINO500 Series trucks arrived at the bivouac which was set up on a military camp near the bottom of the basin. In the drizzling rain, mechanics were quick to begin servicing the trucks with a focus on fully refreshing the trucks in preparation for the second half of the rally. This intervening day of rest is actually a very busy one for mechanics.

Yoshimasa Sugawara: We got bogged in the SS on Jan. 6 and it took us two hours to free the truck. I was feeling symptoms of altitude sickness, perhaps because we worked too hard to break loose, but I'm feeling better now after breathing oxygen and resting at the bivouac. I will get my physical condition up to speed during the rest day tomorrow.

Mitsugu Takahashi: There were quite a few areas where navigation was challenging and we got lost a couple of times. The first half of the rally is already over, so time certainly does zip by.

Teruhito Sugawara: Given this weather, there wasn't much the organizers could do but to cancel the SS. This consequently made the first half shorter, but the second half will continue to meet us with challenging segments and we are highly motivated to keep going. I think our performance up to this point has partly been the result of upgrades that we made to the truck, but I also think that the increased level of navigation difficulty has been an advantage for the more experienced teams, including ourselves.

Hiroyuki Sugiura: It seems like I'm also having some mild symptoms of altitude sickness. I'm eager to race and I can't wait for the second half to begin.