Stage 2 : Car 1 finishes the intermountain course at 15th place undaunted by the course's diverse range of terrain. Car 2 is forced to stop during the SS due to trouble.
Jan 8, 2020
Having made a one-two finish in the Under 10-litre Class on the first day, HINO TEAM SUGAWARA gave a strong showing again this day. Car 1 crewed by Teruhito Sugawara/Hirokazu Somemiya/Yuji Mochizuki suffered a punctured tire in the first half, but finished 15th overall in the trucks category for an accumulated ranking of 14th place so far. Meanwhile, Car 2 piloted by the Ikuo Hanawa/Yudai Hanawa/Mayumi Kezuka crew stopped on the course in the latter half of the SS (timed section) due to damage to the truck's rear body. The crew was safe, but since the truck was unable to continue driving, one of the team's support trucks was rushed to the site with permission from the organizer. Car 2 has yet to arrive at the bivouac in Neom as of 9 pm local time (3 am Jan 7 Japan time).
Neom is located at the mouth of Aqaba Bay, north of Al Wajh along the Red Sea. Located nearby on the opposite shore is Sharm El-Sheikh in Egypt, the goal of the 2003 Dakar Rally. On this day, a 26 km liaison from Al Wajh took contestants inland where they raced a 367 km SS in the intermountain areas eventually reaching an area near the Neom bivouac. The course mainly consisted of rough road surfaces that can cause major damage to racing vehicles' body at higher speeds, but also met racers with a diverse range of terrain including sandy areas and rocky areas, as well as dried river beds. Navigation was also complex in many areas, and the navigators' workload was high due to the fact that road books were not handed out until just before the start.
Car 1 punctured its rear-right tire early in the day. After this incident, the crew maintained their focus racing through rough road conditions and copious dust. And while they lost about 5 minutes at a fork in the road before the finish line that was tricky to identify, they reached the finish without encountering any other problems. They concluded their day reaching the bivouac in Neom which was a few kilometers away from the SS finish line. Located on a plateau a few kilometers inland from the shore, the view from the area with tall mountains in the distance is reminiscent of the North African landscape.
One of the team's Hino 700 Series ZS support trucks headed out in the evening to rescue Car 2, and although Car 2 was stranded near the neutral zone, the support truck was only expected to reach the site late at night as competition was still ongoing. Stage 3 on Jan 7 is scheduled to take contestants on a loop course out of Neom.
Teruhito Sugawara (Driver, Car 1)
We punctured a tire again today after yesterday. It was smooth racing after that, but we lost one of our spare tires perhaps due to a problem with how it was mounted. I've asked the support squad to identify the cause and take necessary measures.
Hirokazu Somemiya (Navigator, Car 1)
I didn't mind not having the road book until the morning, but navigation was difficult today. I regret missing the course near the end of the segment because we'd been racing error-free up to that point. I'll do my best again tomorrow.
Yuji Mochizuki (Navigator, Car 1)
Our spare tires are mounted on a carrier installed inside a frame at the rear section of the truck's body, and we are investigating why the tire fell off. We saw Car 2 racing well during the SS, but it seems that they had to stop right after that. I'm concerned for how they are doing.
