MEDIA INFORMATION
Hydrogen Small mobility & Engine technology (HySE)
47th Dakar Rally
January 3rd-17th, 2025
HYDROGEN-POWERED HYSE-X2 MASTERS THE 48-HOUR CHRONO STAGE AND PRESSES ON TO AL-HENAKIYAH AFTER GRUELLING START TO THE 47th DAKAR RALLY
AL-HENAKIYAH (SAUDI ARABIA) – Tuesday, January 7: The revolutionary hydrogen-powered HySE-X2 has excellent over the opening three stages of the 47th Dakar Rally and reached the bivouac in remote Al-Henakiyah without any major issues on Tuesday.
Entered in the event’s Mission 1000 category for machines of the future, the HySE-X2 (Hydrogen Small mobility & Engine technology) is a revised SSV, which has been developed for competition as a prototype for the next-generation of carbon-neutral powertrain technologies.
Japanese driver Yoshio Ikemachi and his Portuguese navigator Paulo Marques completed the first 85km part of the 48-hour Chrono stage on Sunday in a time of 1hr 45min 36sec and collected 10 points for finishing the full stage distance without issues.
The second longer section on Monday ran for 108km and provided its own challenges in terms of the management of fuel consumption. The duo completed the stage in 1hr 51min 18sec and collected the customary 10 points for achieving the full stage distance and a further five for drive mode skills.
Stage three headed north from Bisha to Al-Henakiyah, a governorate in the Al-Madinah region of Saudi Arabia, and a stage of 110km was sandwiched between two long liaison sections of 443km and 214km.
The crew managed to complete the full stage with fuel in reserve, despite a power steering issue over the latter kilometres, which forced Ikemachi to drive cautiously to the finish.
Quotes after Stage 3 on Tuesday, January 7th
Yoshio Ikemachi, Driver:
“This was the longest stage, so my priority was the fuel economy. The road surface was hard, so I thought I could push from the beginning. But, at the 40km point, I was at 65%, which was 10% less fuel than my target. From there, I was running eco-friendly. At around 60km, the steering started to feel really bad and the steering wheel started to be taken away. I suspected that the steering system was loose.
“I stopped and checked, but there was no problem and the steering wheel was still taken away, so I held on to it and drove slowly for the 20km to the intermediate point at 87km. When I stopped and checked with the mechanic, I found that the electric power steering was broken, so I adjusted myself for the rest of the time and drove to the finish line. Because of the problem, I had more than 20% fuel left, despite the long distance. I was able to finish in a positive mood.”
Paulo Marques, Co-driver:
“The first part was with some stones. We didn’t want to get a puncture but everything was alright with the tyres. It was not very easy to do the navigation but we tried to have the best tracks and we found a good way. At the end of the stage, we had a little problem with the car. The power steering was broken. Yoshi was driving around 30km without power steering assistance and it was difficult for him. Finally, we made the end of the stage and we are very happy. Two more stages now to the end of the first week. Then we will see when the deep sand arrives (next week). We are hoping to be able to resolve any problems with that.”
Daichi Kai, Team Leader of HySE Dakar Project:
“It was a more difficult day than we expected. Fuel economy didn’t improve as much as we expected in the rocky sections and that forced us into eco mode. We also had a steering system failure, which made it difficult to increase our pace. But the driver and co-driver managed to get the car to the finish safely.”
Quotes after Stage 2B on Monday, January 6th
Yoshio Ikemachi, Driver:
“Today’s distance was long, so I asked the engineer to set up a monitor for the fuel consumption in real time. We were able to drive in a more fuel-efficient range than the day before. We couldn’t make any mistakes with the navigation either, so we shared information and drove with almost no mistakes.”
Daichi Kai, Team Leader of HySE Dakar Project:
“This was the first time we went over 100km, so it was a difficult challenge for us. The driver and co-driver discussed the strategies to manage fuel consumption. There was a sand dune at the end of the course, which we struggled with last year, but the evolved X2 was able to clear it and we achieved our goal within the target time.”
Quotes after Stage 2A on Sunday, January 5th
Yoshio Ikemachi, Driver:
“The sand was similar to yesterday’s (SS1) and I felt a lot of resistance, so I drove in fourth gear. If I use sixth gear too much for fuel economy, the CVT belt temperature will rise, so I kept it in fifth gear and was able to keep the temperature down. I don’t have much experience with one-pedal droving, but I was able to keep the CVT temperature below 95 degrees by controlling the accelerator. I went off course for about seven kilometres and used up some fuel, but I’ve got a grasp of the fuel economy pattern over the last couple of days, so I think I was able to control the fuel well.”
Paulo Marques, Co-driver:
“I feel that the car goes well on the sand. I was more confident in the dunes and I think it will be good there as well with good tyre pressures. The compromise today was better. We did a difficult navigation today and everyone was lost around the 63km mark. It was not easy to find the waypoint. We went to the left and then, when we went to the right, we could finally find it. But we lost on fuel consumption as a result. That’s part of the game. Then, to the end it was very nice but also difficult in navigation with many parallel tracks. We had to find the best way but we did it and we were almost alone the whole way. The truck passed us after 20km or so on a very fast track and then we catch the truck later because we lost less time than them.”
Daichi Kai, Team Leader of HySE Dakar Project:
“Today’s altitude was higher that yesterday and the change was considerable., which made the conditions even tougher for the hydrogen engine. The settings based on the data from yesterday worked perfectly and we were able to reach the finish line safely. But we were unable to do sufficient testing duo to the problem. We have been able to accumulate fuel consumption and vehicle data up to today, so we will take on tomorrow’s long-distance stage with confidence.”
The HySE project was established in May 2023. Honda Motor Co. Ltd., Kawasaki Motors Ltd., Suzuki Motor Corporation, Toyota Motor Corporation and Yamaha Motor Co. Ltd. started the Dakar project around September 2023 and joined the Dakar Mission 1000 category with the HySE-X1. The chassis was built by Overdrive Racing, the Belgian car preparations company.
Tomorrow (Wednesday), the fourth stage heads north from Al-Henakiyah to Al-Ula, an ancient oasis city in the Medina Province of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Mission 1000 competitors will tackle a special stage of 95km in another long day’s route of 459km.
Ends