Car 1 piloted by Yoshimasa Sugawara
Even though January 9’s SS was shortened due to inclement weather, the terrain challenges remained daunting. Battling to cross sandy dunes, gravel piste, and muddy areas, Hino Team Sugawara still delivered solid performances in the end and managed to retain their 1-2 leads in the Under 10-litre Class on the first day of the second half of Dakar Rally 2017.
The early part of Stage 7 tested racers with shifting sand dunes where they struggled to cross unstable ridges of deep, powdery sand. In the latter part of the day, the terrain transitioned to gravel piste as well as a number of muddy areas. Competition for the trucks category was cut short at the 141.37km point due to deteriorated road conditions from the rain.
The Teruhito Sugawara and Hiroyuki Sugiura crew piloting Car 2 made no navigational errors, finishing at 14th overall and top in the Under 10-litre Class. Car 1 piloted by Yoshimasa Sugawara and Mitsugu Takahashi also delivered a sound performance finishing the SS 36th overall and 2nd in the Class. Car 2 and Car 1 continue to maintain their 1-2 positions in the Under 10-litre Class.
The Uyuni bivouac was set up as the marathon stage camp, which meant that there would be no assistance crews to be seen here. This stage will not be a Parc-Fermes stage where the racing vehicles are completely isolated from the crews, but a Parc-de-Travail stage where crews will be allowed to service vehicles themselves.
Although the longest SS in this year’s event had been scheduled for January 10?a 492km SS straddling the Bolivian-Argentine border between Uyuni and Salta?organizers once again have had to shorten it due to the effects of rain.