The last two days of the first half of the race were marathon stages. On the 8th, the fourth stage of competition was held between Al Henakiya ~ AlUla as the first half of the competition. AlUla is considered a marathon bivouac without a mechanic, and participants will prepare for the second half of the journey to Ha'il in their own vehicles that they serviced themselves. Since it is not possible to receive external parts supply, if the spare tire is used up in the first half of the stage or a major accident occurs, it will have a major impact on the competition in the second half. It is the second riskiest process after the 48H Chronostage.

Hino Team Sugawara, which competes in the truck division of the HINO600 series, ran smoothly on this day as well. Despite a puncture and a mistrack, he finished the 415km SS in 88th place overall in the four-wheel category and 11th in the track category, bringing his cumulative position to 57th overall and 8th in the track category to this day.

The SS (competition section) of the day started from the bivouac of Al Henakiya at a point where we traveled 173 km north by liaison (moving section). Further north, to AlUla. There are no sand dunes around AlUla, but the road surface that weaves through the mountains is more stony than sand or gravel. There was also a high risk of punctures, such as sandy terrain and rough bedrock with lava-like sharp stones in the fesifesi, which was also seen on the journey to Al Henakiyah.

The HINO600 of Teruhito Sugawara, Hirokazu Somemiya, and Yuji Mochizuki continued to drive cautiously on this SS. In addition to the right rear wheel being punctured and replaced on a rocky area on the way, there was a miscourse of about 20 ~ 30 minutes in the section where the direction of navigation in the middle was complicated, but other than that, it was smooth and we arrived at the goal safely.

After the SS finish, we traveled 1km to the bivouac in AlUla. Yuji Mochizuki, a riding mechanic, inspected the car, but there were no problems other than minor damage, and the race will be in perfect condition for tomorrow's stage on the 9th.

On the 9th, the last day of the first half of the race, a 428km SS is scheduled between AlUla ~ Hayil. At the bivouac in Hayil, Hino team staff who have traveled directly from Al Henakiya are preparing to refresh the vehicles in the middle of the 10th.

Teruhito Sugawara
I lost some time due to a flat tire and a miscourse, but other than that, everything is going well. All three of them are in good spirits and will continue to run hard in the second half of the marathon.

Yuji Mochizuki
The car body remains in good condition without major damage. We swapped the position of the flat tire so that we could get a spare immediately in the event of a flat tire, and we also prepared for tomorrow.