On January 6, Dakar Rally 2024 began in earnest with the first stage of competition between Al Ula and Al Henakiyah in northwestern Saudi Arabia.
HINO TEAM SUGAWARA's HINO 600 Series, the only Japanese team competing in the trucks category, finished 13th in the trucks category and arrived safely at the bivouac in Al Henakiyah before 8 pm.

On this day, a 414 km SS (competition segment) was scheduled after leaving the bivouac in Aloura and traveling 84 km to the southeast.
However, the start time for the entire 4-wheel category was delayed by one hour due to a medical car responding to a traffic accident involving a spectator near the starting point, so the trucks category competition ended at CP (Check Point) 2 at the 281 km mark. After that, the contestants were on the paved road and traveled 195 km to reach the bivouac in Al Henakiyah.

The SS began with a rocky and sandy canyon crossing road similar to the prologue run, and then turned into a roadless off-road with frequent changes of direction. The latter half of the SS continued on a winding road with a rough surface with many rocks and a high risk of punctures. The dust rolled up by the cars ahead of the team was quite heavy, making it suitably challenging course.

Teruhito Sugawara, Hirokazu Somemiya, and Yuji Mochizuki crew piloting The HINO 600 Series started the day in 138th place in the 4-wheel category and 15th in the trucks category based on the prologue run results.
Taking care of their tires to avoid punctures, they maintained a pace that was competitive with their rivals in the 13-liter class, finishing at CP2 in 13th place, 36 minutes 47 seconds behind the leader, Janus Van Kasteren (IVECO).

On January 7, a 470 km competition is scheduled from Al Henakiyah to Al Duwadimi.

Teruhito Sugawara:
Although it ended prematurely, it was a very good day.　We had no punctures, no problems, and our strategy of not stopping in the middle of the race was successful again today. If we can continue to drive at our speed without fail, I think we can aim for the top positions.

Hirokazu Somemiya:
With Mr. Mochizuki helping me with navigational tasks such as calling out distances to waypoints, I am able to concentrate more on my own work. I got sick to my stomach halfway through the race today, but I recovered after that.

Yuji Mochizuki:
I heard what sounded like a boost leak during the race, but other than that there were no punctures and I was able to run smoothly while also working as a navigator. I will have the mechanics inspect the running boost.