Successfully repaired the transfer and raced through the sand dunes. Finished 5th in the truck category at the Schwaiter sand dune stage.

Jan 16, 2025
No.PD25-12

車両の状況をメカニックに説明する菅原照仁 0P9A9165.jpg

Teruhito Sugawara explaining the condition of the vehicle to a mechanic.

砂丘を快走したHINO600 0P9A9089.jpg

HINO600 ran smoothly through the dunes.

The Dakar Rally 2025 is finally coming to an end, and from the 15th to the 17th, there will be a three-race series of dune stages at the edge of the Rub Al Khali Desert in the so-called "Empty Quarter" in southeastern Saudi Arabia. This was the first day of the competition, and the competition was held between Harad ~ Shuvaita.

The mechanics of Hino Team Sugawara tried to repair the transfer of the HINO600 that had been damaged in the accident the day before, but as of this day, the spare T/F that could be replaced had been exhausted, so it seemed that there was nothing more that could be done. However, the mechanics did not give up, disassembled the two broken T/Fs, selected the surviving parts from them, worked all night to make the two into one, and managed to assemble one T/F. It was a strategy that seemed reckless to complete it overnight because it was quite hard work at the end of the race, such as welding and correction as well as replacing parts, but thanks to the brilliant coordination of all the mechanics, it was repaired and installed in time just before the start time, leading to the continuation of the race.

We were ready for today's competition. The stage will begin with a 520km liaison from Harad to Shuvaita, followed by a 118km SS (competition section) about 5km east of the bivouac. The road surface was all sand dunes, and the sand was soft, so the difficulty was correspondingly high.

The duo of Teruhito Sugawara, Hirokazu Somemiya, and Yuji Mochizuki, who are good at sand dunes, continued to run well while taking care of the repaired transfers, such as avoiding excessive input to the vehicle, and finished 79th overall in the four-wheel category and 5th in the track division. With a cumulative finish of 65th overall, he maintained his position of 10th in the track division as he arrived at the bivouac in Schweita, adjacent to the SS goal.

On the 16th, the competition is scheduled to be held on a loop course based in the eastern area. It is the toughest of the three races and is expected to be the last difficult stage of the competition, but the two-wheeled, four-wheeled, and track courses are independent, with a short distance of 126 km for the truck (and four-wheeled production vehicle division) compared to 321 km for the two-wheeled and 284 km for the four-wheeled (modified division). The level of difficulty is unknown, but in order to get the best possible conditions, the mechanics continued to inspect the bivouac until late at night.

Teruhito Sugawara
The center differential of the transfer was not satisfactory with replacement parts, so the mechanics connected it directly all night. I came through the dunes while using a high gear with care, but I was able to run smoothly on the dunes today, probably because the gear ratio was right.

Hirokazu Somemiya
Navigation in the dunes was normal and not busy. I think it was an area that I had probably passed before.

Yuji Mochizuki
Since it is a full-time 4WD, a center differential is essentially necessary, but it seems that there is no problem if you do not make tight turns on the paved road of the liaison. Today, there was no rise in oil temperature, including transfer. Since the SS is all sand, the tire pressure remains at 1.8 kg from beginning to end. There was no situation to lower it than that.

メカニックアドバイザーの鈴木から指示をもらい、修復を試みる良川と邵.JPG

With instructions from Suzuki, a mechanic advisor, Yoshikawa and Shao attempted to repair it.

破断したトランスファケース.JPG

Broken transfer case.

すべて分解されたトランスファ.jpg

All disassembled transfers.

使用できる部品を選定するメカニック陣.JPG

Mechanics select parts that can be used.

順調にシュバイタに着いた日野チーム 0P9A9136.jpg

Hino Team Sugawara arrived at Schweita smoothly.

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