The first stage of Dakar 2025 kicked off on the 4th in southwestern Bisha, Saudi Arabia, with the rally in full swing. Hino Team Sugawara, which competes in the truck division in the HINO600 series, finished the first day smoothly with a solid finish, finishing 104th overall in the four-wheeled category and 12th in the truck division.

The day's competition was an 86km liaison to the southeastern part of Bisha's bivouac. From there, the 413km SS (competition section) started with a large loop in a clockwise direction. The road surface alternates between sandy terrain and hard stone rickety roads that go along the wadi (the bottom of a dry river). Especially in the first half, I was running while avoiding the trees, so I couldn't pick up the pace as much as I wanted. Between km 243 and km 256 it was a neutral section of paved road that was passed in a set amount of time (35 minutes for the track division), after which it went out on a wide off-road and finished on the west side of the bivouac.

According to the results of the Prolo Grand the day before, 134th place on 4 wheels, The Hino team's Teruhito Sugawara, Hirokazu Somemiya, and Yuji Mochizuki (Hino Motors employees), who started the SS in 15th place in the truck division, drove at a pace comparable to that of their rivals in the 13-liter class displacement engine, taking advantage of the characteristics of the A09C engine, which specializes in the mid-to-high rpm range by regularly using the low range of the auxiliary transmission built into the transfer. It was a difficult day for the occupants, as they were blinded by the rising dust and shaken on the rickety road, but the vehicle reached the finish line safely without any trouble.

On the 5th and 6th, the second stage, the 48h Chrono, will be held again on the loop course at the base of Bisha. In the past, one of the difficulties in Dakar was the marathon stage, which was run over two days and two legs without mechanics or external parts supply. The 48h Chrono, which was introduced in the previous race as an advanced version of the race, is a more demanding stage that takes two days to run one process.

On the first day, the organizers set up bivouac sites at six locations along the course, and participants dropped off at the first bivouac they reached after the stipulated time. On the morning of the second day, we will restart at the designated time and aim for the goal.

In preparation for the early stages of the tournament, the Hino team carried out a careful inspection and maintenance in the bivouac.

Teruhito Sugawara

There were many twisty sections that weaved through the groves, dust, and hard and rough stone surfaces, but the vehicle was in good condition and I felt that it was highly reliable. It's a 48h chrono from tomorrow, but I'll keep the pace and run.

Hirokazu Somemiya

I was busy with navigation instructions today, and there was a mistake in the roadbook. Even though I got used to it at the Jeddah Rally, which I participated in as a test, I was honestly tired after 400km of dust and rickety roads.

Yuji Mochizuki

The road surface alternates between sandy and rocky surfaces, so I used the equipment to adjust the internal pressure of the tires accordingly, but I couldn't operate it in time. Other than that, the water temperature and oil temperature did not rise much, and it was a problem-free day.