Team's trucks make a 1-2 finish in Stage 1 in the Under 10-litre Class.

Car 1 crewed by driver Yoshimasa Sugawara and navigator Ahito Sakurai.

Monday, Jan 7: Competition of the Dakar Rally 2019 finally begins on an 84 km SS (Special Stage) en route from Lima to Pisco. Contestants first traveled on a 247 km liaison segment out of Lima to their first bivouac in Pisco. Competition was held on an SS near the bivouac, which was essentially a looped course as the finish line was also quite near the bivouac. The Pisco bivouac was set up at the base of a range of sand dunes, the same spot as last year. The SS also mainly consisted of sandy terrain, interspersed with dried riverbeds on rocky stretches and winding high-speed roads.

HINO TEAM SUGAWARA's two HINO500 Series trucks cleared the dunes stage without a hitch. The team's ace truck, Car 2 crewed by Teruhito Sugawara and Katsumi Hamura, became stuck once in the stage but managed to finish at 19th place overall and top spot in the Under 10-litre Class. Meanwhile, Car 1 piloted by veteran Yoshimasa Sugawara and Dakar first-timer Ahito Sakurai missed one mandatory GPS waypoint but still managed to finish at 28th place overall and second in its Class before arriving safely at their bivouac in Pisco.

Car 2 sustained damage to the plumbing of its tire pressure adjustment system when the crew worked to extract the truck from the sand, and it also suffered a problem where the front tires would hit the insides of its fenders when the suspension compressed―the kind of thing you might expect to see on an all new truck. These problems were quickly dealt with by the mechanics who were on standby at the bivouac. While this was the first time Car 2 had ever raced over full-scale dunes, it delivered performance that was on a par with its larger rivals, bolstering expectations for what it could do in the days ahead.

On Tuesday Jan 8, racers will race a 342 km SS near Pisco, and head southward on a liaison segment before reaching San Juan de Marcona.

Yoshimasa Sugawara (Driver, Car 1)
The key to this rally is to maintain your concentration day in and day out. I was extra careful today as this was the first day, and things went well without any problems. We were back at the bivouac before it got dark so we will keep up this momentum tomorrow.

Ahito Sakurai (Navigator, Car 1)
Even though I have experience racing the Silk Way Rally, this was my first day of full-scale dune racing in a truck. It was a bit scary at first because of our high seating position, but I got used to that pretty quickly. I made one error where I couldn't find a GPS waypoint, but I will continue to give it my best.

Teruhito Sugawara (Driver, Car 2)
We got stuck in the sand when we backed up in a little basin, and we got help from the spectators who pulled us out. It looks like we damaged one of our air lines when we were doing this. This was the first time I've driven this truck in dune terrain but I'm looking forward to the days ahead as it is very steady and solid to drive.

Katsumi Hamura (Navigator, Car 2)
This was the first time for me racing the Dakar Rally with Mr. Teruhito (Sugawara). I was surprised at the high speeds but I was able to communicate all the necessary navigating information without a problem. We've been told that we'll be racing this same area tomorrow so I will make sure not to misidentify any of the ruts.

Car 1 arrives at the bivouac at the base of a dune range.

Yoshimasa Sugawara is in great shape after finishing the first day's SS.

Navigator Ahito Sakurai reports on how the truck is doing.

Navigator Katsumi Hamura completes his first SS navigating for Teruhito Sugawara.