＜Stage 5＞ (Day 6)
At the end of the first half of the event, Car 2 is at 14th overall in cumulative rankings and top in the Under 10-litre Class.

＜Stage 5＞ (Day 6)
Car 2 continues to do well with no major problems, and crew aims to reach the top group in the second week.

Friday, Jan 11 was the second day of the marathon stage, and contestants raced for a total of 450 km on their way back to Arequipa from their marathon bivouac in Tacna. Racing vehicles started out two at a time from the starting line of the SS (Special Stage), which was set up by the sea at the end of a 42 km liaison route. After racing the 314 km first half, they traveled on a 66 km neutral zone, and finally raced the 136 km second half. Once across the finish line, racers took a 153 km liaison back to Arequipa, making this a long day with 711 km of driving in total. Road surfaces mainly consisted of dried riverbeds covered with fesh-fesh (sedimentation of extremely soft and fine powdery soil) as well as off piste (roadless off-road) segments with rock-strewn hilly terrain. They also raced on dune segments that were short but tough nonetheless.

As the inter-mountain areas became draped in fog late in the afternoon, the poor visibility forced organizers to discontinue the day's competition at 5:05 pm; 425 km into the race at CP (check point) 3. While a number of contestants had already passed CP3, everyone was informed at whichever CP they arrived at that the race has been discontinued and instructed to make a diversion to paved road and head on to the bivouac in Arequipa.

The Teruhito Sugawara and Katsumi Hamura crew on their HINO500 Series truck delivered a solid race again this day, climbing from their 15th place starting position to 12th overall in the trucks category by the time they reached CP3. This concluded the five stages of the first week.

The crews had a rest day at Arequipa the following day, Saturday, Jan 12. At the bivouac, which was set up in a section of an air field, HINO TEAM SUGAWARA―the only Japanese team racing in the trucks category―carried out inspections and servicing on their HINO500 Series truck to freshen it up in preparation for the second week of competition. The HINO500 Series truck crewed by the Teruhito Sugawara and Katsumi Hamura duo currently stand at 14th place overall in cumulative rankings in the trucks category and at top place in the Under 10-litre Class. Since all of the truck's class rivals have pulled out of the race, they need only to finish the rally to clinch their record tenth straight win in the class. The all new truck―with its high rigidity frame, front and rear suspension upgrades, and a more powerful A09C engine―which the team entered in the race for the first time this year has been putting on an excellent display of its potential, racing neck and neck daily with its larger rivals.

The second half of the rally will feature extremely tough stages in the outskirts of Marcona and Pisco, with all eyes on how far the HINO500 Series truck can make its way into the top group of the overall trucks category. Also on Sunday, Jan 13, competition in the new Semi-Marathon classification is scheduled to kick off. The team's Car 1 piloted by the Yoshimasa Sugawara and Ahito Sakurai duo, who were forced to retire in Stage 2 from steering problems, will also be racing in this classification.

On Sunday, Jan 13, contestants will travel on a liaison route to San Juan de Marcona, and race a two-part SS over a total distance of 289 km. With a long liaison route awaiting the crews after the SS finish line, making for a total driving distance of 807 km, this will be the longest stage in the event (The Semi-Marathon classification will be raced on a different course plan). HINO TEAM SUGAWARA members all came together in their conviction to take on the remainder of the race that was to start the following day.

Yoshimasa Sugawara (Driver, Car 1)
Organizers have given us another chance so we will be racing the Semi-Marathon starting tomorrow on Sunday, Jan 13. I'm really looking forward to it.

Ahito Sakurai (Navigator, Car 1)
This has been an extremely tough Dakar Rally. I will reset my mindset and give it my best in the Semi-Marathon which is to start tomorrow.

Teruhito Sugawara (Driver, Car 2)
Stage 5 was a day of intense dust from the fesh-fesh. And while there were only about 20 km of dunes, they were much more difficult than what I expected. The risk of getting stuck is much higher on this year's courses, and I think the top groups are racing on a razor's edge with these risks in mind. This is the first time we entered this new HINO500 Series truck in the Dakar Rally and I'm impressed daily by its performance. On the rest day, I asked our mechanics to adjust our rear suspension for dune driving. The second half of the event will be even tougher so I will be giving it my best.

Katsumi Hamura (Navigator, Car 2)
On the off piste (roadless off-road) sections in Stage 5, the ruts were spread out over about a 300-meter wide area so it was difficult to match them up with the road book. The dunes were tough too. I'm glad that we were able to make it to the finish without any flats or any other problem.

Hideaki Takatori (Mechanic leader)
This was my first time on a Dakar team in a long while, and I was surprised at how different things were from when the rally was held in Africa. For one thing, the bivouacs are set up in towns. I think all nine of us mechanics are coming together great. No one has been injured or become sick since the race started. I will continue to keep safety first in my mind.

Seiichi Suzuki (Technical advisor)
We added a bump stopper to the rear leaf on Car 2 because it seemed like it was flexing too much when the truck made full bounds on the dunes. The truck is doing fine otherwise. No cracks in its frame either, so things are going good.

Fuminori Ishizaki (Mechanic, Ibaraki Hino Motor)
It was frustrating to have that problem with the transfer. I felt that we need to check things more thoroughly. It was actually not a problem with the unit itself but with the activating air supply, but we replaced the unit anyway just in case.

Yu Honda (Mechanic, Aichi Hino Motor)
When Car 1 had problems with its power steering, fellow mechanic Mr. Oda and I rushed to the site. It was the kind of repair that you might come across on repair visits that we do in our daily jobs, but it gave me a sense of how tough things can get in a rally.

Daisuke Nawa (Mechanic, Gifu Hino Motor)
I was about to get sick in the first half, but I'm feeling well now. I am having so much fun every day at the bivouac.

Hironobu Oda (Mechanic, Mie Hino Motor)
As one of the mechanics assigned to Car 1, it was very frustrating that it had to pull out of the race. I guess this is what Dakar is all about. We serviced the truck on rest day so that Mr. Yoshimasa (Sugawara) will be able to do well in the Semi-Marathon which is to start tomorrow.

Kazuki Ishida (Mechanic, Hino Motors)
I'm in charge of supporting the mechanics. This work can be very tough physically on everyone so there's a lot to learn from that. I will continue to give it my best in the second half of the rally.

Shinji Kitagawa (Mechanic, Hino Motors)
I was surprised at the amount of heavy-duty servicing tasks that we had to do, such as transfer replacements, and do all of this on the sandy and shaky surfaces at the bivouac.

Yuji Mochizuki (Mechanic, Hino Motors)
I got a real feel for how different the racing trucks were from production trucks in terms of how they utilized their engines (their output). The greater the power, the greater the effect of the engine's heat on its surrounding components, so we are taking steps to manage that as well. I will continue to give it my best in the second half.

＜Rest day＞ (Day 7)
Driver Yoshimasa Sugawara will be racing in the Semi-Marathon staring Sunday, Jan 13.

＜Rest day＞ (Day 7)
Driver Teruhito Sugawara relaxes at the Arequipa bivouac.

＜Rest day＞ (Day 7)
Mechanic leader Hideaki Takatori is in charge of bringing the group together.

＜Rest day＞ (Day 7)
The Hino team's bivouac at Arequipa

＜Rest day＞ (Day 7)
The HINO500 Series truck is being refreshed on the rest day.