德州扑克达人

The 德州扑克达人 2009 was held for the first time in South America, covering almost 9,600 km in Argentina and Chile from the 3rd to the 18th of January. Team Sugawara which participated in the 德州扑克达人 2009 using two 500 Series vehicles, successfully completed the rally, with Car 2 (with Teruhito Sugawara and Seiichi Suzuki) in 14th place in the Camion (truck) division, and Car 1 (with Yoshimasa Sugawara and Katsumi Hamura) in 26th place. Moreover, Car 2 placed 2nd among vehicles with an engine displacement of less than 10 liters. 德州扑克达人, Ltd. (鈥溾��) is the only Japanese automobile manufacturer which has been continuously participating in the Camion division of the 德州扑克达人 Rally, and it supported Team Sugawara鈥檚 activities for this rally as well, by jointly developing the vehicles and dispatching mechanics to the rally site. This year marked its 18th consecutive participation and successful finish in the 德州扑克达人 Rally, using the 500 Series vehicles.

The 德州扑克达人 Rally (formerly known as Paris 德州扑克达人) which initially began as a rally from Paris to 德州扑克达人 in 1979, changed its location from Africa to South America for the first time in its 30-year history. This year鈥檚 rally lasted 16 days, and covered a loop course of almost 9,600 km to and from Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina, through varied terrain including Patagonia, the mountainous areas of the Andes, and the Atacama Desert in Chile. Team Sugawara changed its entry category to the Modified Truck class of the Camion division for this rally. It participated in the rally using two 500 Series vehicles which were modified substantially to improve their front-rear weight balance -- by, for example, shifting the engine rearwards and elongating its wheelbase. The total number of entrants in the Camion division was 81, of which vehicles with an engine displacement of less than 10 liters accounted for 16, including the two 500 Series vehicles.

The vehicles entered Chile from Argentina after driving through the Andes on the 9th , and took a day of rest on the next day at Valparaiso before the started the latter half of the rally. They reached the climax of the rally in the Atacama Desert on the 12th. Although Car 2, positioned at 10th in the Camion division as of January 11, had made rapid progress placing them in 7th position in the Camion division up to CP3 (Check Point 3, an obligatory point) -- once on its way, driving steadily through dunes which 500 Series vehicles were good at, it regrettably had to decelerate its pace due to sudden rear differential trouble. Car 2 decided to miss out a part of the obligatory GPS point (which resulted in a penalty) to arrive at the bivouac in Copiapo, as it had to rely on front wheel drive only. Although Car 2 was repaired by the mechanics working all through the night, the differentia trouble once again occurred on the 13th, and it arrived at the bivouac at around 4:00 a.m. on the following day by crossing the dunes once again on only front wheel drive. As the race on January 14 was cancelled due to the bad weather, Car 2, after it was repaired, moved to the next bivouac in Fiambala in Argentina with Car 1.