Lighter and faster in 2016

Regular participants in the Dakar Rally since 1991, team Sugawara and Hino Motors, hold an enviable record for reliability, class wins and overall placings, and are preparing to take their 2016 Dakar performance to new heights.

The team’s objective includes a seventh straight win in the class for trucks with engines under ten-litre capacity, and a high overall placing in the truck category.

To this end, the team has prepared two four-wheel drive 500-Series trucks that are lighter, more powerful and significantly faster than those raced in 2015.

Based on the 2015 racing trucks, the latest Hinos have had engine and suspension upgrades and they have shed 300 kg in weight. Both trucks will be powered by the nine-litre Hino A09C engine, tuned to deliver
470 kW (630 hp) and 2 255 Nm of torque.

The number one truck, to be crewed by team principal Yoshimasa Sugawara (now 74 years old) and navigator Mitsugu Takahashi, features the 500-Series facelift, which was introduced in Indonesia and Thailand earlier this year.

The 2016 Dakar Rally will start in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on January 3, and finish in Rosario, Argentina, on January 16. The route is more than
9 000 km long and includes sections at an altitude of more than 3 500 m.