～ Team develops new truck and will be racing the Silk Way Rally in July ～

　The Dakar Rally racing team, "Hino Team Sugawara", jointly formed by Hino Motors, Ltd. (hereafter referred to as "Hino." HQ: Hino City, Tokyo. President & CEO: Yoshio Shimo) and Japan Racing Management (hereafter referred to as "JRM." HQ: Shibuya-ku, Tokyo. President: Teruhito Sugawara), and headed by team director Teruhito Sugawara, welcomes a new member to its roster, driver Ikuo Hanawa. Hino for its part has, among other things, appointed a dedicated chief engineer to reinforce its organizational setup. The new truck that was under development is now ready and the team will be racing the Silk Way Rally in July.

　This new organizational setup was created to aim for even greater heights in the Dakar Rally. Teruhito Sugawara―the son of Yoshimasa Sugawara, known as the iron man of Dakar―continues to deliver stunning performance as Hino Team Sugawara's ace driver and will also be heading up the team as its director. Ikuo Hanawa, who enjoys success in off-road races in Japan and internationally, will be joining the team as its new driver. The team also has new members in its roster of navigators, mechanics, and support members.

　Hino has also appointed an officer in charge of engineering and a dedicated chief engineer* who will be presiding over roughly 70 of the best and brightest who work in a range of different fields. The company will be working more forcefully than ever, not only in the area of truck design, development, and building, but also in the area of team support such as in logistics for racing trucks and replacement parts. Also, as part of its efforts to fearlessly take on the challenges of developing new technologies for the future, the company continues to send out young engineers on rallies to offer them opportunities to experience a broad range of challenges in real-world rally settings.

　As for racing trucks, the team has also developed a new truck based on the North America-exclusive model in addition to the previous HINO500 Series-based Dakar Rally truck that was complemented with a range of competition upgrades that further boosted its racing performance. Both trucks' cabs were modified for a crew of three, which means that whereas the previous trucks were piloted by a crew of two―one driver and one navigator―both trucks will now be manned by a third crew member equipped with extensive servicing experience to boost their capability to respond to trouble situations. This three-person crew arrangement will give the trucks the aggressive performance needed to make their way into the leading group in the overall trucks category.

　"Hino Team Sugawara" will be racing the Silk Way Rally which will be held in Russia, Mongolia, and China starting July 6 and ending on July 16. Through this hands-on experience, the team aims to refine its trucks, raise its members' skill levels, and solidify the team's cohesive teamwork.

※ Officer in charge of engineering: Kenji Nagakubo, Product Planning Officer.　Chief engineer: Mitsuru Enomoto, Dakar Challenge Section Chief, Vehicle & Module Planning Div.

■"HINO TEAM SUGAWARA" members (21 members scheduled to take part in the Silk Way Rally as of Jun 3, 2019)

Position	Name	Affiliation	Remarks
Team director and Driver	Teruhito Sugawara	JRM	Newly appointed as team director
Driver	Ikuo Hanawa	Summit Racing Promotions	New team member
Navigator	Yudai Hanawa	Summit Racing Promotions	New team member
Navigator	Hirokazu Somemiya	RallyStream inc.	New team member
Navigator	Yuji Mochizuki	Hino Motors, Ltd.	Switched positions from mechanic to navigator
Navigator and Technical Advisor	Seiichi Suzuki	JRM	To also serve as navigator
Mechanic Leader	Koki Seino	Hino Motors, Ltd.	New team member
Mechanic	Hideaki Takatori	Hino Motors, Ltd.
Mechanic	Masataka Nishiyama	Hino Motors, Ltd.	New team member
Mechanic	Shinji Kitagawa	Hino Motors, Ltd.
Mechanic	Ryo Ishii	Hino Motors, Ltd.	New team member
Mechanic	Yasunori Nagata	Higashi Hokkaido Hino Motor Ltd.	New team member
Mechanic	Keisuke Watanabe	Gunma Hino Motor Ltd.	New team member
Mechanic	Yasufumi Watanabe	Tokyo Hino Motor Ltd.	New team member
Mechanic	Koichiro Hoshijima	Okayama Hino Motor Ltd.	New team member
Mechanic	Koji Yoshikawa	JRM	New team member
Support Member	Mayumi Kezuka	JRM
Support Member	Rumi Ando	JRM
Support Member	Shun Konnai	JRM	New team member
Support Member	Takashi Endo	JRM	New team member
Support Member	Kazuki Ishida	Hino Motors, Ltd.	Switched positions from mechanic to support member

■Racing Truck Characteristics

　In taking on the challenge of finishing in the leading group, we have modified and built trucks with the aim of boosting their basic performance with a particular focus on driving performance. The previous Dakar Rally truck came with upgrades to improve its driving stability and reduce vibrations over rough terrain, namely a frame with Box-type cross sections and a cab suspension system that covers vertical and lateral movements independently to reduce crew fatigue. In addition to these features, the newly built truck comes with a bonnet type cab to further reduce crew fatigue, as well as a torque converter AT to boost its acceleration performance.

■Truck Specs

End of release

Image data can be downloaded including the photos published in this release.

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【Inquiries】

Dakar Group, Corporate Communications Dept., Public Affairs Div., Hino Motors, Ltd.

TEL：042−586−5195