The January 16th route was from Al Henakiyah to Yanbu. A 311 km competition was held in the mountainous area near the Red Sea coast. Hino Team Sugawara (Teruhito Sugawara/Hirokazu Somemiya/Yuji Mochizuki crew), competing in the Truck Class of the four-wheel division with the HINO600 series, was running smoothly but was hit by a drivetrain trouble near the 250 km point and stopped. They applied emergency repairs by their own efforts over approximately four and a half hours and safely arrived at the goal. (Competition results have not been posted as of 6:30 AM Japan time on the 17th)

The SS (Special Stage) on this day was set in the mountainous area near the Red Sea, 215 km west from Al Henakiyah past Madinah. This was the final stage as a full-scale competition of over 300 km. The road surface started with wide gravel roads through canyons, crossed wadis (dry riverbeds), and sand dunes soon appeared. After that, rough rocky terrain and sand appeared alternately, creating varied content characteristic of Saudi Arabia.

HINO TEAM SUGAWARA, which started 16th in the Truck Class, moved up to 10th place in the class by the 184 km point at a good pace. They continued to progress smoothly, but while running near the 250 km point, the transfer case temperature suddenly rose, and shortly after, the drive was no longer transmitted and they stopped. The crew attempted repairs with spare parts they had, but the damaged areas inside the transfer case were too extensive to handle. They had no choice but to be towed by another competing vehicle to CP2 at the 258 km point, where they removed the transfer case. Furthermore, by connecting the propeller shaft for the front axle differential to transfer case to the gearbox and rear axle differential, the vehicle became operational. Since the propeller shaft length didn't match and was greatly bent, and the front axle wasn't driven in a two-wheel drive state, after restarting they headed to the goal point while bypassing sand dunes.

After the SS ended, they traveled 194 km in the liaison section heading north along the Red Sea coast to Yanbu. At the bivouac, HINO TEAM SUGAWARA's mechanics who were on standby immediately began repair work.

On the 17th, after completing the final 108 km SS in the hills near Yanbu, they will finish at the podium inside the bivouac. The goal ceremony will be held and all schedules for the 2026 event will conclude.

Teruhito Sugawara
Today we were running in good condition without any punctures while being careful of stones, but unfortunately we had transfer case trouble again following last year. There was input from the road surface side just before it broke, but it wasn't significant, so I'm not convinced about the cause.

Hirokazu Somemiya
It became sunset while we were repairing, and it was pitch dark after restarting. We skipped the GPS waypoints placed at the sand dunes, but we cleared 80% of the overall route, so I think we can continue the competition with just time penalties.

Yuji Mochizuki
When it broke, the transfer case oil temperature shot up to 130°C at once. The external appearance showed the front side output flange and case were cracked and oil was leaking. The inside was also a mess and couldn't be fixed with the parts we had on hand. It broke last year too, so we had taken countermeasures, but...