Yoshimasa Sugawara will return to the Africa Eco Race in 2026, where he plans to race a new Suzuki Jimny Sierra. It will be his third time entering the event after competing in 2020 and 2024.

Sugawara holds the record for most Dakar Rallies started with 36, competing from 1983 to 2019. Most of his starts came in a Hino truck, which he debuted in 1992 with a best finish of second on six occasions; his son Teruhito currently leads Hino Team Sugawara at Dakar. He also completed the race annually from 1989 to 2009, a 20-year finish streak that ranks second in Dakar history behind Giniel de Villiers.

Although he retired from Dakar after 2019, Sugawara entered the 2020 Africa Eco Race in a Yamaha YXZ1000R. He would finish 30th overall and 15th for SSVs.

Four years later, he finished 21st at the 2024 AER in a Suzuki JB64 Jimny. The Jimny is a kei car, which Sugawara has long been interested in, even writing a book about them when he was 26.

The Africa Eco Race follows the same route that the Dakar Rally used to take from its inception until 2007, running from Europe to the Senegalese capital.

The 2026 AER runs from January 24 to February 7.

Featured image credit: Team Sugawara