Competitors were greeted today with another marathon leg as they departed Ridgecrest on their journey South. The day started with teams departing on a long unique marathon leg that took them through Cuddeback south of Red Mountain. Heading off the pavement onto the dirt, the teams headed east toward a massive dry lakebed and their first green checkpoint of the day to get them into Johnson Valley. Once they checked in, the teams were off on an on-route enduro for back-to-back enduros which led them to hunt out-of-order checkpoints for the afternoon. At the end of the first day of this marathon leg, competitors stopped to camp after 10 hours of their start time. Teams are spread out across three different zones where they will spend the night before starting their next leg, Day 6. This second to last stage will find teams arriving at their final basecamp in Glamis and get their scores tallied from the past two days.

BMW M2 M35i

The third teammate is an essential part of any Rebelle Rally team and the ideal proving ground to test a manufacturer’s products so we were happy to welcome BMW when they were interested in bringing out their all-new X2 before even the media could get their hands on it. Unveiled to the world on October 11th, just hours before pre-tech started, the BMW X2 made its digital debut. Now in its second generation, the X2 is BMW’s extremely capable compact Sport Activity Coupe.
The new X2 is equipped with a 2.0-liter TwinPower turbo 4-cylinder engine and to add to the competitive nature of the Rebelle Rally team, they were outfitted with the top M35i trim which gives the car 312 hp.

For the Rebelle competition, the X2 received mild modifications that solidified its off-road capabilities:
Falken WildPeak AT Trail Tires
Rotiform ZMO-M Wheels
Morimoto Triple Row BangerBar (front) and 2Banger Pod lights (rear)
XPEL Stealth Paint Protection Film and Ultimate Plus Paint Protection Film
Thule Caprock roof platform
Smittybilt off-road recovery gear and accessories
BMW M Performance Parts tow straps
Custom underbody protection/skid plate
Custom cargo area spare tire carrier
TerraTrip external odometer
Piloted by veteran Rebelle competitors, Rebecca Donaghe and Sedona Blinson, the team only had a few hours with the vehicle before jumping into chasing checkpoints. Their experience and tenacity as competitors have kept Team #205 Wild Grace 8.0 in the hunt for a podium of the X-Cross™ class.

Source: Rebelle Rally

For the Rebelle Rally competitors, it’s a relief to make it through their marathon leg and move on to one of the Rally’s favorite basecamp locations, Ridgecrest. Warmer temperatures and rocky trails greeted the teams as they looped through Gold Point and the beautiful Joshua Trees before heading down to basecamp. Described as a fun and flowing day of driving, teams collected checkpoints for 6.5 hours and then headed to a longer transit along the eastern slope of the Sierra Mountains to their evening Ridgecrest camp.

At the end of Day 3, teams could see their scores from the marathon leg. Back up on top today were Team #129 4xEventures (Nena Barlow/Teralin Peterit) for the 4x4 class. This is proving to be a very competitive class again this year with the top three finishers today all within nine points. Second place today went to Team #187 Limestone Legends (Alex Anderson/Lilly Macaruso) who climbed up two places from their finish yesterday. Third for the day was Team #152 Toyota Way-Finders (Becky Brophy/Samantha Barber). Navigator for Team #152 had the following analysis of their marathon leg and strategy for the two days, “On the marathon leg we just went for it all and went for the X's we knew. On both days, we knew that we had to really focus on time because it was tight closing times on everything. We really focused on keeping to our closing times and watching those and trying to make quicker decisions than what we had last year.”

All the teams today fought for each and every point, keeping the other teams chasing them on their toes.

For the X-Cross™ class, the team who came out on top on Day 3 after the marathon leg was Team #202 Mach-E Rally (Bailey Campbell/Kaleigh Miller) in their all-new Mustang Mach-E Rally. They were one of only two X-Cross™ teams who didn’t receive a penalty today. Following closely on their heels was #200 Built Wild (Melissa Clark/Jessica Moore) in the Ford Bronco Sport Badlands and finally breaking into the top three was Team #206 KiAloha (Susie Saxten/Verena Mei) in their 2024 KIA Telluride X-Pro as the third-place finisher.

Teams now prepare for a day of chasing checkpoints in the open OHV areas around Spangler and Ridgecrest.

Source: Rebelle Rally

It’s the first marathon day and according to Rebelle Rally Founder Emily Miller, “Today required dead reckoning,” Teams rolled into their marathon camp and won’t see their scores tonight but we can share provisional results with you. Today's course went 290km, a long day of competition but a great day for drivers. Checkpoints were spaced further away, and Emily selected some smooth, fun roads so the teams could enjoy their journey. Tonight teams will enjoy some warmer temperatures in an iconic western ghost town.

Keeping it interesting as always, the scores reflected a shake-up in the top three for both the 4x4 class and the X-Cross™. Finishing on top of the 4x4 class on Day 2 was Team #152 Toyota Way-Finders (Becky Brophy/Samantha Barber) and on top for the X-Cross™ class was Team #205 Wild Grace 8.0 (Rebecca Donaghe/Sedona Blinson). The remaining 4x4 competitors on Day 2’s podium was Team #139 Headings United (Mandy Brezina/Alex Gilman) in 2nd and Team #129 4xEventures (Nina Barlow/Teralin Petereit). Rounding out the podium for the X-Cross™ was Team #200 Built Wild (Melissa Clark/Jessica Moore) in second place and Team #202 Mach-E Rally (Bailey Campbell/Kaleigh Miller) in third.

Proving that Rebelle teams are tough competitors, the Rebelle media team captured the pure grit of Team #115 Dirty Tires (Fonda Matthews/Macie Matthews) who proved that no terrain is too extreme for a tire change. “We were lucky that it was less than a kilometer to the top. We got there and it was flat, and we could kind of work together [to fix the flat]” said Fonda Matthews of Team Dirty Tires. She and her teammate and daughter Macie Matthews look forward to putting Day two behind them and moving on to happier trails.

Source Rebelle Rally

Today the largest field the Rebelle Rally has ever seen kicked off with a record 65 teams arriving in Mammoth Lakes for the official start of the eighth edition of the Rally. For the first time, Rebelle Rally Tech Inspection was held up on the side of Mammoth Mountain Ski Area giving competitors stunning views of the Minaret Range in the California Sierras.

Kicking off the event was Pre-Tech and Tech Inspection, where teams made their way through the individual stations. They had their navigation disabled, stickers applied and received all the maps they will use over the next eight days of competition. Teams will cover 2,120 kilometers traversing some of the most iconic off-road terrain in the American West. The field of 130 women hail from 100 different cities, 27 states and provinces and three countries.

The two tech inspection days are an important part of the Rally as it is the first stop before the competition officially kicks off. This is where the competitor's third teammate, their vehicle, is inspected and cleared for competition within the confines of the rule book guidelines. After completing all of the inspection stations, teams took off to the first base camp. BC1 is nestled in the valley outside of Bishop, CA. Teams regrouped tonight with a welcome dinner celebrating the kickoff and are preparing themselves for the Prologue that starts tomorrow morning.

Source Rebelle Rally