Hino Team Sugawara made an excellent debut with its firstnew racing truck in eight years when it finished sixth overall and the highestplaced trucks in the recent Rally Mongolia, which started and finished at UlanBator.The main reason for competing in this gruelling 3 000km race, run overseven days, was to evaluate the new truck with the eye on the 2012 Dakar Rallyin South America.
The team's truck was driven by Teruhito Sugawara, son of team owner YoshimasaSugawara, and navigated by Hiroyuki Sugiura.
Yoshimasa Sugawara, who is now 70 years of age and known as the Iron Man of theDakar Rally, also competed in Rally Mongolia. Driving a Suzuki Jimny he put ina solid performance when many vehicles got stuck in the sand dunes and finishedjust behind the Hino 500 to take seventh in the car category.
The following comments were made by Teruhito Sugawara reviewing the test run inRally Mongolia.
"We have made major changes in building the new truck, when compared tothe Hino we raced in the 2011 Dakar Rally where we finished ninth overall. Theimprovements included reducing its weight by 300kg, placing the engine in amid-ship position, lowering the truck's center of gravity, widening its trackwidth, making changes to suspension settings to match these changes, andinstalling a cab suspension system.
“While we will be using the same engine that we used for the 2011 Dakar Rally,the truck's steering reaction and stability meant we could drive much faster.I’ve got a feeling that these improvements are so important that we could haveshortened our driving time by at least 10% if we had competed the 2011 DakarRally in this truck.
“Additionally, by installing the intercooler and oil cooler at the top of thecargo area, allowing these to suck in outside air directly, I get a real feelthat this improvement contributes to the cooling performance of the newmid-engine layout.
“However, a key factor for delivering good performance at the Dakar Rally is tofinish the race without encountering any problems. In addition to this race inMongolia, he has been energetically racing in domestic off road races to ensurehe is fully prepared for the Dakar Rally.
Data that they have collected during tests will be analysed by the developmentteam at Hino and the drivers, Yoshimasa Sugawara and Teruhito Sugawara, to makefinal adjustments as the team prepares for the 20th Dakar Rally.
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