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 | Dakar Rally 2013: Hino notches up 22nd consecutive finish in Dakar Rally.
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Hino, the leading Japanese truck manufacturer and the first one from that country to enter the gruelling Dakar Rally, way back in 1991, notched up its 22nd consecutive finish in the 2013 edition of this gruelling cross-country race which finished in Santiago, Chile, on January 20. The two-truck Hino Team Sugawara once again had a 100% finishing record.
"We are delighted at yet another display of reliability and durability by Hino trucks in the toughest, regular test for this type of vehicle in open competition in the world," commented the vice president of Hino SA, Dr. Casper Kruger.
"The two trucks entered by Team Sugawara were once again the only representatives from the Japanese truck industry to participate in this two-week marathon across some of the world’s most desolate regions. The strong performance also served to underline Hino’s competitive spirit and technological resources."
The four-wheel drive Hino 500-Series truck crewed by Teruhito Sugawara and Hiroyuki Sugiura, of Japan, finished 19th overall out of the 60 finishers from an original field of 74 trucks and won the Dakar Challenge for trucks with an engine capacity of less than 10 litres. This was the 13th time Hino has won this award in the 14 times it has been contested since 1996.
The second Hino, crewed by Teruhito’s 71-year-old father, Yoshimasa, and navigator Katsumi Hamura, placed 31st overall and third in the under 10-litre Challenge.
What makes the Dakar a David and Goliath contest in the truck category is the fact that the Hino uses a production-based six-cylinder intercooled turbocharged engine of 7 961cm3 while most of its rivals are in the "monster" category with much larger capacity engines developed specifically for this annual race.
Hino, Liaz and Ginaf were the only three makes with a 100% finishing record in this year’s race out of a field that included Kamaz, MAN, Mercedes-Benz, DAF, Renault, Iveco, Maz and Tatra trucks.
Interestingly the second Dakar in which Hino participated finished in Cape Town after starting in Paris, with the Japanese trucks in 4th, 5th, 6th and 10th positions. The big breakthrough came in 1994 with a second position overall. This achievement was repeated in 1995, 1997, 1998, 2001 and 2005.
The most successful year for Hino was 1997 when it became the first and until last year the only maker to take the first three places overall in the truck category when the route went from Dakar to Agades and back to Dakar. In 2011 Kamaz, of Russia, became the second truck maker to register a 1-2-3 finish and repeated this feat in 2013.
This year Hino continued its long association with Team Sugawara, which is headed up by Yoshimasa Sugawara, who holds the record for the most consecutive entries in the Dakar Rally at 30. He is the only Japanese to have competed in this epic race on a motorcycle and quad as well as in a car and truck.
Now 70 years of age he holds the record for the most consecutive finishes in the Dakar Rally at 22. His son, Teruhito, contested the Dakar Rally for the 15th time in this year’s race and this was only the second time he has finished out of the top 10.
2013/01/22 | 14:11 CET | ARTICLE: MR/HS/HINO SA
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