On January 15th, Dakar Rally 2024 was held over a 458km stretch from Al Duwadhimi to Ha'il in Saudi Arabia.The first half of the SS started on the sandy pistes, then moved on to the tough sand dunes.

However, in the second half of the SS, which passes through the mountainous area near Ha'il, the course surface changed significantly, becoming a gravel road and then over rocky areas.HINO TEAM SUGAWARA maintained its strong performance and made a great run in this SS.

They finished the SS in 10th place in the trucks category without any major problems.As a result, they maintained 8th place in the category in the cumulative ranking.

On this day, the participants traveled north from the bivouac in Al Duwadimi on a 125km liaison (travel section), then headed west-northwest to the outskirts of Ha'il for a 458km SS.Using the low range of the sub-transmission, the Hino team managed to get through the dunes and sandy sections at the beginning, and then entered the transfer section from the 165km point to the 344km point.

This 179km stretch was a paved road, no competitions were held, and participants were required to travel within a designated time (130 minutes for the trucks category).

Afterwards, the course became a gravel road, allowing the team to drive at high speeds, but the sand dust was so heavy that navigation was difficult in some spots.At the end, they passed at low speed through the scree field filled with large black stones, and reached the goal of the SS.And after a 95km liaison, the team arrived at a bivouac set up near the airport in Ha'il.

Tomorrow, January 16, there will be a 417km competition on the route back to Alula, the starting point of the event.

With four stages remaining, the Dakar Rally 2024 enters its final phase.The Hino team's mechanics continued maintenance work at the bivouac in Ha'il, where the temperature had cooled to below 10 ºC after dark, in order to achieve their goal of finishing high in the trucks category.

Teruhito Sugawara:
Today was a good day with no problems.The sand dunes in the first half were tougher than I expected, and I once again felt the effectiveness of optimizing the gear ratio.
If it had been the specifications from last year, I think we would have had a hard time climbing.

Hirokazu Somemiya:
As for navigation, we were able to reach the goal without making any mistakes.
The total length of the SS course was 458km, but there was a transfer section of 179km, so it was not enough for me as a navigator.I want the course to be more difficult.

Yuji Mochizuki:
The vehicle has been in good condition with no problems since yesterday's maintenance.
Now I'm thinking of increasing the internal pressure of the tires a little to reduce the risk of punctures.Today as well, I searched for appropriate values and was able to collect some useful data.