Hino Motors Limited of Japan has announced that it will compete in its 34th Dakar Rally in Saudi Arabia in January 2025 as it aims to build further on its record for reliability in this gruelling cross-country raid. It has notched up 33 consecutive finishes since taking part in the 1991 Dakar Rally.
Since its debut, at least one Hino truck has qualified as a finisher in each event. Last year 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. The bonneted US market Hino 600 Series truck which raced in the 2024 event, 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. Changes 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 rally raid. 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. The organisers say it will be one of the toughest in the history of the event with a big sting in the tail as 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 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,” says Teruhito Sugawara, the team director and driver.
The Hino folk in South Africa are delighted Hino will once again take on the tough challenge of the Dakar Rally.
“We feel it is wonderful for the morale of all involved with the brand to follow the fortunes of our truck in the world’s most demanding motorsport event. The record of finishing 33 consecutive races is a great public display for Hino reliability which resounds with our customers,” says Itumeleng Segage, General Manager of Hino SA.
FleetWatch wishes the team well as it prepares for this great event.
