DAY 8: 13 Jan

On Jan 13, The second half of Dakar Rally 2018 kicked off on Jan. 13. Contestants raced a 368 km SS between La Paz and Uyuni in Bolivia, and the HINO500 Series truck Car 2 crewed by Teruhito Sugawara and Mitsugu Takahashi―entered by HINO TEAM SUGAWARA in the trucks category―delivered a solid performance finishing at 13th overall and 1st in the Under 10-litre Class.

The day's SS was held on hilly highlands at elevations approaching 4000 meters. Contestants travelled on a 291 km southbound liaison from La Paz that took them to the SS starting line that was set in an intermountain area near Oruro. The SS for trucks was 57 kilometers shorter than that for bikes and cars, with a finish line set near the Uyuni salt flat. This was then followed by a 9 km liaison that took them to the bivouac. The course was made up of a combination of high-speed pistes and off-road segments with grassy outcrops. Road surfaces were wet from the rain, confronting racers with puddles and mud puddles which called for absolute cautious driving on the part of crews. Elevations in this stage were roughly in the 3700-3900 m range.

The HINO500 Series truck's crew stuck to risk-averse driving to complete the stage at 13th place overall. This brought the truck's standings so far to 7th place in overall accumulated rankings, and top position in the Under 10-litre Class.