10 out of 10 for Hino Dakar team

The victory was sweet indeed when Hino Team Sugawara Car 2 pilots Teruhito Sugawara and Katsumi Hamura crossed the 2019 Dakar Rally finish line in Quito (Peru) recently, as the gruelling 12-day effort marked the team's 10th straight victory in the event's Under 10-litre truck category.

The achievement also saw the the pair finish ninth in the overall standings, their efforts seeing them beat many larger-capacity rivals to the line.

It wasn't all smooth sailing for the two-truck Hino squad, however, as its first vehicle, crewed by Yoshimasa Sugawara and Ahito Sakurai, was forced to withdraw in the early stages of the race, meaning Sugawara senior missed completing his 36th consecutive rally.

"It was a tough course, and I would like to congratulate Car 2 for delivering Hino Team Sugawara its 10th successive victory in the Under 10-litre class – as always, we will use our experiences in this year's Dakar Rally to further enhance our products," said Yoshio Shimo, President & CEO of Hino Motors Limited.

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Teruhito Sugawara said he was pleased with his result, also promising that more success was still to come.

"With the new truck we have seen opportunities to improve, and we're looking forward to taking these learnings to achieve even greater results," he said.

Teruhito's father, Yoshimasa Sugawara, is the Guinness World Record holder for Most Consecutive Entries (35) and Most Consecutive Finishes (20), and was understandably disappointed with his second successive retirement.Hino Australia's Head of Customer and Brand, Dimitri Andreatidis, congratulated the team on its success.

"Once again, Hino demonstrated its reliability by delivering a 10th successive class victory, which is an incredible result given that only 34 per cent of trucks actually finished the rally," he said.

"At Hino Australia, we are extremely proud of the 'Little Monster' trucks and their long list of achievements."

Both of the Hino Dakar Rally 500 Series vehicles used an enhanced version of the Hino A09C six-cylinder engine, with the production version available as an option in the 500 Series Wide Cab trucks in Australia.

A derivative of the A09, the A05 engine, powers the new 500 Series Standard Cab, which is on sale now in Australia.

For this year’s Dakar Rally, Hino Team Sugawara built a new Car 2 truck for Teruhito Sugawara. Upgrades included greater maximum engine output, a more rigid frame, longer wheelbase, and a new cab suspension.

Both Hino Team Sugawara trucks are powered by a 8.9-litre direct injection turbocharged and intercooled diesel engine matched to a six-speed direct drive gearbox with secondary transmission and two-speed transfer case, with part-time four-wheel drive in Car 1 and full-time 4WD in Car 2.