HINO500 Series truck extends its Class winning streak to twelve

HINO TEAM SUGAWARA celebrates their finish

Hino Motors, Ltd. (Hereafter "Hino." HQ: Hino, Tokyo. President: Yoshio Shimo) entered the Truck Division of Dakar Rally 2021 in Saudi Arabia which ran from January 3 thru 15, 2021 as HINO TEAM SUGAWARA (Director: Teruhito Sugawara). The Team won the championship in the Under 10-litre Class in the Truck Division, extending its winning streak in the Class to 12 for a team record. In addition, the truck finished at 12th place in the overall Truck Division which was dominated by large trucks with engine displacements in excess of 10 litres.
This event also handed Hino its 30th consecutive finish since its first entry in 1991 as the first Japanese commercial vehicle maker to start in the rally.

Unperturbed by the many restrictions laid on them from the COVID-19 outbreak, Hino engineers continued their truck development to complete a racing truck for this rally. This latest team record was the result of the outstanding driving skills and extensive rally experience displayed by Teruhito Sugawara, and the collective teamwork from the navigators, mechanics and support members of HINO TEAM SUGAWARA.

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■ Crew member comments
Teruhito Sugawara (driver and team director)
The biggest event for us this year was the tip-over accident we had and how we were able to continue the race after making emergency repairs that night. I have to apologize for tipping the truck over, and I am grateful for all that everyone did so that we can be where we are today. Thank you all very much.

Hirokazu Somemiya
The roads were rough this year, and that made things tough. We all took a pounding from the up and down shaking of the cab, and while I had to see the organizer's medical staff at times, I'm doing fine now. I was able to enjoy the rally.

Yuji Mochizuki
Things got difficult at times because we were a small group, but it was a great Dakar. I'm glad I was there as the truck's mechanic when it tipped over because I was able to start up the engine and make other stop gap fixes. We were also able to gather data, so we will be using those for future development.

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Hino is committed to build on the spirit of challenge fostered through these activities to deliver value to our customers and societies with the aim of realizing a "sustainable world that is prosperous and comfortable to live in."

Please visit our official website for more information on Hino Motors' participation in the Dakar Rally.
https://www.hino-global.com/corp/dakar/index.html

Click here for daily Dakar Rally 2021 reports.
https://www.hino-global.com/corp/dakar/latest_news/2021/

The crew finishes the rally safe and secure.
(from left to right: Hirokazu Somemiya, navigator; Teruhito Sugawara, driver; and Yuji Mochizuki, navigator)

HINO500 Series truck extends its Class winning streak to twelve

End of release