Stage 10 saw competitors travelling from Calama in Chile to Salta in Argentina. They crossed the Andes on a 385km liaison route before racing a 371km Special Stage in the mountainous region of north-western Argentina.
Along narrow winding tracks and across rocky dried-out riverbeds, at elevations as high as 4500 metres above sea level, both of Team Sugawara’s Hino 500 Series trucks skillfully picked their way around large potholes and deep ruts – terrain made worse by recent rainfall.
The crew of Truck 2 showed good pace and finished in 22nd place and top in the Under 10-litre Class.
"By now, our competitors’ trucks have also undergone quite a beating as we near the finish, so I think we will still have opportunities to improve our position. Today again, we’ve been able to chase the top racers in the overall Trucks category from about only 40 minutes behind," said Truck 2 driver Teruhito Sugawara after the race.
Truck 2 navigator Hiroyuki Sugiura struggled at first with the altitude but is happy overall with their performance in the stage. "I had a pounding headache in the first part where the altitude was high, so that was tough. After that, we were essentially on a one track road so it was not difficult at all from a navigation standpoint. The truck is doing fine too," said Sugiura.
Truck 1 also delivered a solid performance finishing the stage 39th overall and 2nd in the class.
Driver and Dakar veteran Yoshimasa Sugawara said after the stage: "I’m a bit sleepy as I didn’t get much time to sleep last night, but I’m doing fine. The first part of the special stage today was a high-speed segment and it felt good racing those mountain roads. We’ve got three more days to go, so I will stay focused because you never know what is going to happen."
This brings the general rankings for Truck 2 and Truck 1 to 17th and 30th, respectively, and the trucks continue to maintain their 1-2 lead in the Under 10-litre Class.
Tomorrow the rally takes a route along the famous Ruta 40. Accumulated fatigue over 11 days of racing is sure to take its toll on a difficult course and with the end in sight, losing focus now could be catastrophic.
General Ranking
17 #516 Teruhito Sugawara/Hiroyuki Sugiura +09:49:26
30 #524 Yoshimasa Sugawara/Yoko Wakabayashi/Katsumi Hamura +27:17:23
Car 2 and Teruhito Sugawara arrive at Salta.