I'm going to try and paste the newsletter I've been getting. Tough day for Jill and Kristin yesterday.
October 15, 2024, Dumont Dunes, CA
The Rebelle Rally has officially reached the first dunes of the competition! On a multi-loop competition day, teams tested their mettle in the sand and surrounding rocky terrain. Featuring a long desert loop including the iconic Sperry Wash, the southeastern edge of Death Valley, and skirting the Kingston Range Wilderness, competitors were able to enjoy their time on this extended loop with fewer checkpoints and big views of the landscape, finishing up in the dunes of Little Dumont. The smaller loop was at the Dumont Dunes open OHV area, which allowed teams to chase out-of-order checkpoints in the sand.
Vehicles such as the Jeep Wranglers, Gladiators, and the popular Ford Broncos are made to take on this terrain. Many teams, including the current leaders in the 4x4 class, run their Jeep 4x4s “bone stock.” In the Rebelle, this designation is given to teams who don’t make any modifications to their vehicle beyond potential wheel and tire upgrades and other minor alterations. A special award is given to the manufacturer and team of the highest-scoring “bone stock” vehicle.
Today’s teams left the start line for their dunes day in reverse seed order; the highest-ranked teams went last. This mixed up the performance today, showing that start orders can help or hinder you, depending on your experience and strategy. At the end of DAY 4, the Bone Stock designated 2024 Jeep Gladiator Mojave of Team #129, piloted by multi-time winning duo Nena Barlow and Teralin Petereit, came out on top; however, another bone stock competitor is close on their heels. The 2023 Ford Bronco Raptor of Team #150 Desert Roots of Shelby Hall and Rori Lewis delivers a brutish 418 hp through its 3.0L Ecoboost® V6 engine, and is close behind them in the overall standing.
The competition in the X-Cross® class is no less exciting. A long day covering 241 km for the group left teams tired at the end of this mid-rally day, with the 2025 Ford Bronco Sport Badlands Sasquatch of Team #200 Built Wild of Melissa Clark and Kathryn Reinhardt taking the top spot for DAY 4 just edging out Team #204 MtnSubi of Carey Lando and Andrea Shaffer.
As teams prepare to depart from the second Basecamp, the competition will continue to head south to more mountainous and sandy terrain.
For real-time updates, live tracking, live scoring, and team bios, visit the official Rebelle Rally website at rebellerally.com. The Rebelle Rally LIVE Webcast, presented by Toyota, includes daily competition previews and evening recaps and can be watched via rebellerally.com, YouTube, and Facebook.
Day 5: Jill and Kristin are in 32nd place out of 52 teams.
October 16, 2024, Soggy Lake, Johnson Valley, CA
The competition is heating up as Rebelles left Dumont Dunes today to made their way further south to the final basecamp on Soggy Lake, nestled down in Johnson Valley, California. The teams started their morning with a long on-route enduro heading south through Rasor OHV and, ultimately, ending up in the iconic Johnson Valley OHV area. After they passed through Rasor, the 4x4 competitors had both a regular and X-option. The X-option was shorter but rougher terrain that took returning Rebelles to a new section of the course for competitors.
Once the teams reached Johnson Valley, checkpoints could be hunted out of order. There were X-options for both the 4x4 and X-Cross this afternoon, which once again were rugged terrain but designed to challenge all the teams, especially the higher-ranking ones competing for the podium.
DAY 5 ended with 249 tough kilometers covered by the teams as they prepare for their final push for the last few days of competition. The current standings for 4x4 and X-Cross are tight, and every checkpoint can change the results. Johnson Valley is known for being rough on vehicles, and today was no exception. From numerous shredded tires to shocks to punctured oil pans, the mechanics have their hands full this evening.
In the 4x4 class, the Jeep Gladiator Mojave of Team #129 and Ford Bronco Raptor of Team #150 continue to be neck and neck for the top position. Close on their heels is the brand new 2024 Toyota Tacoma purpose-built by Rebelle Rally partner, TOTAL CHAOS Fabrication. While 46 points separate the top three teams, this is still anyone’s competition to win or lose.
Today’s X-Cross® competition featured highs and lows as DAY 4’s top team, Team 200, with their 2025 Ford Bronco Sport Badlands Sasquatch, who had been challenging Team 204’s early performance, suffered damage in Johnson Valley’s rocky terrain and had to be towed back to basecamp. Ford Bronco Sports have been champions in the X-Cross class for the past four years since the popular compact crossover SUV was released. The Bronco Sport has an all-wheel drive system with G.O.A.T. modes (Goes Over Any Terrain), so their owners can truly go anywhere. As the Subaru and Ford Bronco Sport continued their competition, the BMW X3 M50 steadily worked its way through the checkpoints to finish the day at second overall.
As teams head out on their final marathon stage tomorrow, competition is fierce, and as we have seen in the past, the Rebelle isn’t over until the end of DAY 7!
Follow along for real-time updates, live tracking, live scoring, and team bios by visiting the official Rebelle Rally website at rebellerally.com. The Rebelle Rally LIVE Webcast, presented by Toyota, includes daily competition previews and evening recaps and can be watched via rebellerally.com, YouTube, and Facebook.
Rebelle Rally competitors are pushing toward the finish line. DAY 6, presented by TOTAL CHAOS Fabrication, is the first of two days in Glamis spent chasing checkpoints among the giant dunes. Teams departed 30 minutes early this morning to transit 290 kilometers from their final basecamp down to their last marathon leg, where their self-camp is located for the evening. Rebelle competitors have been hunting checkpoints here every year since the Rally’s inception, so teams have come to expect the challenge of this iconic terrain.
For X-Cross™ competitors, who faced 19 checkpoints today, dune driving is kept in the sand closer to the edge of the giant dunes as their vehicles don’t have two-speed transfer cases, so no low-range gears. Rebelle Rally is all about highlighting that the vehicle in your driveway is more capable than you think. In today’s competition, Team #204 of Carey Lando and Andrea Shaffer, as well as Team #200 of Melissa Clark and Kathryn Reinhardt, were battling it out again for the day's top spot.
In the much larger 4x4 class, which has 58 competitors, 22 checkpoints were encountered today. Participants chased checkpoints deep into Glamis, visiting iconic locations such as Oldsmobile Hill and the Swing Set. With 20 of the class competitors running their vehicle as ‘bone stock’ and five of them in the top ten, it’s possible for Rebelles to be successful without having to make major modifications.
With one day of competition left, the X-Cross class's DAY 6 results were a tie for first place between Team #204 MtnSubi (Carey Lando/Andrea Shaffer) and Team #200 Built Wild (Melissa Clark/Kathryn Reinhardt). The overall standings for the X-Cross class going into DAY 7 are as follows: First, Team #204 MtnSubi; Second, Team #200 Built Wild; Third, Team #205 BMW (Rebecca Donaghe/Syndiely Wade).
For the 4x4 Class, DAY 6 ended with Team #129, consisting of Nena Barlow and Teralin Petereit, leading the day and the overall standings. Their 2024 Jeep Gladiator Mojave is the ideal Jeep for high-performance driving across open terrain, and it has even been renamed the Sand Runner for the Middle East market. The remaining results for DAY 6 were Team #188 Trail Hustle (Laura Wanlass/Penny Dale) ending in second place, while Team #150 Desert Roots (Shelby Hall/Rori Lewis) finished in third. Overall standings are Team #129 in first, Team #150 in second and Team #152 in third.
Tonight, teams will self-camp at the marathon base camp in the Glamis dunes. Due to the marathon leg format, competitors will need to sort out their strategy and plan for DAY 7 without knowing their results. Another early start will see them finishing out sand dune checkpoints before heading back to Johnson Valley for the finish line.
Follow along for real-time updates, live tracking, live scoring, and team bios by visiting the official Rebelle Rally website at rebellerally.com. The Rebelle Rally LIVE Webcast, presented by Toyota, includes daily competition previews and evening recaps and can be watched via rebellerally.com, YouTube, and Facebook.
For the final day of competition, DAY 7 was split between two very distinctive sets of checkpoints, with the first 12 checkpoints of the day being in the Glamis Dunes and on route Enduro to Johnson Valley. Just because the finish line wasn’t in the Imperial Dunes this year didn’t mean the final route wasn’t challenging. Teams started early again after their self-camp night in the dunes with some decisions about which checkpoints to chase before departing the sand. They then continued north through Slab City, Box Canyon, and Joshua Tree National Park on an enduro, collecting the last few points before kicking off an entire set of greens, blues, and black checkpoints in Johnson Valley.
Both classes saw heated competition for the day, but in the end, Team #129 of Nena Barlow and Teralin Petereit and Team #204 MtnSubi of Carey Lando and Andrea Shaffer came out on top for the 4x4 and X-Cross® class, respectively. Both teams led the last few days of competition, but the rest of the Rebelle field challenged them every step of the way. This is the first win for Subaru of America and for Team MtnSubi, who have worked hard to bring the brand into the Rebelle Rally family.
Carey and Andrea faced strong competition from second-place finishers Team #200 Built Wild of Melissa Clark and Kathryn Reinhardt but were able to extend their lead when their Ford Bronco Sport Badlands Sasquatch suffered a puncture in their oil pan on DAY 5. The BMW team picked up their second podium in two years, this time with their 2025 BMW X3 M50 finishing less than 60 points behind second place.
In the 4x4 Class, two-time Rebelle Rally champion Team #129 led for much of the competition but had numerous challengers from a strong group of experienced Rebelles, including Team #150 Desert Roots of Shelby Hall and Rori Lewis in their Ford Bronco Raptor who finished second, Team #152 Chaos Finders of Becky Brophy and Samatha Barber in their TOTAL CHAOS 2024 Toyota Tacoma who finished third, Team #188 Trail Hustle of Laura Wanless and Penny Dale in a Ford Bronco Raptor, Team #167 Rambunctious Raptors of Bailey Campbell and Sedona Blinson in their Ford Ranger Raptor, and Team #122 Raptor Rex of Tobi Hlavnicka and Caralina Carlson in their Ford Bronco Raptor. These top six teams were only separated by 128 points, less than a 10% margin.
Top-finishing rookies for each class were Team #154 Trail Trust/FOX Factory with Kristen Matlock and Ashleigh Ballas with their 2023 Ford Bronco for the 4x4 Class and Team #203 Space Raiders with Jacqueline Space and Andrea Hale with their 2020 Subaru Outback in the X-Cross class.
Teams will now get the chance to celebrate with their Rebelle family before tomorrow’s festivities culminating in the annual Gala ‘Rebellation’.
Follow along for real-time updates, live tracking, live scoring, and team bios by visiting the official Rebelle Rally website at rebellerally.com. The Rebelle Rally LIVE Webcast, presented by Toyota, includes daily competition previews and evening recaps and can be watched via rebellerally.com, YouTube, and Facebook.
www.scoring.rebellerally.com
