The HINO 600 series being maintained at the bivouac in Al Duwadimi.

The HINO 600 series completed the SS smoothly without any trouble..

On January 14th, the Dakar Rally 2024 entered its second half and was held over a distance of 483km from Riyadh to Al Duwadimi.This day's route was around the hills south of Al Duwadimi, passing through sand dunes, but about 60% of the course was gravel.It was a very difficult stage for navigation due to the heavy dust.

HINO TEAM SUGAWARA, which is competing in the trucks category with the HINO 600 series, made a good run with a vehicle that had been refreshed on yesterday's rest day, and completed the SS in 7th place in the trucks category.

As a result, the team's cumulative ranking as of January 14 was an impressive 8th in the trucks category.Although it is a compact vehicle with an engine displacement of 8.9 liters, it competed on par with rivals with a displacement of 13 liters, and showed a great performance, breaking into the top 10.

Participants departed from Riyadh, where maintenance was carried out on the rest day, and drove west-southwest on a 255km liaison (travel section) to the hilly area where the SS starts.The early part of the SS was off-road surrounded by rocky mountains, and the surface of the course changed from fesh-fesh to high-speed gravel and then to sand.

The stage was full of variety, with wadis (dry rivers) and rocky areas along the way, and sand dunes in the second half.

The HINO 600 series piloted by Teruhito Sugawara, Hirokazu Somemiya, and Yuji Mochizuki started the competition in 10th position in the trucks category.

They maintained a stable high pace without any trouble and gradually rose through the ranks.The team was able to complete the dune crossing at 330km before sunset, and although they were forced to slow down after dark, they finished in 7th place around 8pm.

After completing the SS, the vehicle headed north on a 136 km liaison to Al Duwadimi.

The distance traveled on this day was 874km, making it the longest stage of this year's rally.

Teruhito Sugawara:
I was able to run in a good mood today as well, using the low range a lot.
Although our ranking fluctuated as we were overtaken by the truck from behind and the truck we passed stopped, we were able to maintain a steady pace.
Now we're in the top 10, which is what we were aiming for, but we still have a long way to go, so we'll do our best tomorrow as well.

Hirokazu Somemiya:
There were about three places where navigation was difficult, and it seemed that many teams made mistakes.
Especially after the dunes, it was difficult to find the thin black pistes, and we sometimes missed a few.Other than that, everything was fine.

Yuji Mochizuki:
The vehicle was in good condition and the fuel leak had been repaired, so there were no problems.
There is a leak in the air piping for transfer switching, so we will have it fixed.The 874km course was long and I was tired.

Mechanic and Yuji Mochizuki discuss maintenance details.