Driver Yoshimasa Sugawara (76 years of age), aka the "Ironman of Dakar," also rewrote the world record for the most consecutive starts in the Dakar Rally to 35 from the time he first entered the then Paris-Dakar Rally in 1983 in the motorbikes category. While he was forced to exit this latest rally after his truck got stuck in a dune in stage 2 early in the rally, he says, "I've always maintained that the Dakar Rally is the 'school of life.' It appears that the god of Dakar Rally doesn't want me to graduate just yet. I am going to leave all of that behind and get to work for next year's rally. Teruhito did really well considering how the course designs were very difficult this year," congratulating his son for his stunning performance and asserting his own determination to enter next year's event.

This year also marked the 27th consecutive finish for Hino since it became the first Japanese maker of commercial vehicles to enter this rally in 1991. On January 20, Hino chairman, Yasuhiko Ichihashi, who was present at the goal ceremony in Córdoba, Argentina remarked, "Listening to team members on how the rally was going, I was reminded that the Dakar Rally truly was the 'world's most grueling rally.' Given these conditions, I think the fact that Hino has finished this rally for 27 years straight, Mr. Teruhito has extended the team's class win to nine, and our medium-duty HINO500 Series trucks fought neck and neck against much larger trucks finishing at 6th overall are things that we can be proud of as a truck maker from Japan. We are committed to work with Messrs. Yoshimasa and Teruhito Sugawara, and continue with our challenge as 'Team Hino.'"

By taking part in the world's top level race, Hino aims to share the excitement of racing with customers and motor sport fans around the world, and build on the spirit of challenge and technological capabilities honed through this experience to deliver products and services that benefit our customers around the world.