Hino Motors Limited of Japan has already notched up an impressive 33 consecutive finishes in the gruelling Dakar Rally and now has its sights firmly set on the 2025 event, which kicks off in Saudi Arabia in January. Building on its record for reliability in this gruelling cross-country raid.
Since its debut in the legendary event in 1991, at least one Hino truck has qualified as a finisher in each event. Most recently the sole Hino – the only Japanese truck in the field – finished in sixth place overall out of 20 finishers from an original field of 46 trucks. This bonneted US-market Hino 600 Series truck will form the basis for the 2025 challenger.
Several important improvements have been made to the truck to further improve reliability and make servicing simpler. These include re-routing piping around the engine to keep them out of harm’s way and beefing up the automatic transmission’s clutch plates. The maintenance process at the overnight stops is also being revised to keep time consuming and labour-intensive maintenance tasks from overlapping.
Dakar 2025 will be the 47th staging of this famous off-road race. It will start in Bisha on 3 January and finish in Subbaiah on 17 January. There will be 12 timed stages and one rest day. According to the organisers it will be one of the toughest in the history of the event with a big sting in the tail. The finish will be located at the end of a three-day “adventure” in the so-called Empty Quarter which is a mass of sand dunes. There will also be two marathon stages which will not permit servicing by anyone other than the crews themselves.
“We are fully committed to continuing to work together in a challenging environment to ensure we build a faster and even more reliable truck for Dakar 2025,” said Teruhito Sugawara, the Hino’s team director and driver.
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