Rebelle Rally 2023 Field Updates

PROLOGUE
October 13, 2023
Mammoth Lakes, CA

With the first day of competition under their belt, the Rebelle Rally competitors made their way back to Basecamp 1 after an unscored Prologue Day that brought them to an on-time enduro right out the gate that would determine the start order for Day 1. Deemed as an easy and scenic stage for the competitors the afternoon brought panoramic views of the Eastern Sierra Mountain range and skirted them along the edge of Bishop, California to Chidago Canyon and the White Mountains. The highlight of the drive was the climb through a tight red rock canyon to Benton Crossing Road.

The Prologue gave the competitors the chance to practice each type of map and compass checkpoints (green, blue, black diamond and X options) as well as their on-time enduros.

After the scoring for the enduro was complete, it was determined that the team that will be the first off of the line for Day 1 will be Team #150 Desert Roots (Shelby Hall/Rori Lewis). Their incredible performance on the enduro gave them the top score of the day and will be departing the line bright and early at 7:00 am. Rounding out the top three scores for the Prologue enduro were two Rivian teams. Team #187 Limestone Legends (Lillian Macaruso/Alexandra Anderson) will be second off the line and Team #139 Headings United (Mandy Brezina/Alexandra Gilman) will be starting third. Many competitors look forward to the starting line every year and Alex Gilman from Team Headings United was no exception, “Mandy was a big reason I decided to go for it again this year. Getting to go out to Glamis earlier in September was a breath of fresh air and I can’t wait to be back on the start line.”

Tomorrow teams will start their first day of scored checkpoint competition where the clicks of their Yellow Brick Tracker will matter to their score!

Day 1
October 14, 2023
Mammoth Lakes, CA

Competition at the Rebelle Rally never fails to excite and Day 1 at the eighth annual Rebelle Rally didn’t disappoint. The first day of the official scored competition began with another on-time enduro that took the teams to diverse, iconic locations along the Upper Owens River. The terrain on today’s stage led teams from the Bristlecone Pine forests out to spectacular views of Obsidian Dome. The key to today’s competition was all about making smart decisions, where we saw only a handful of teams opt for the scenic Obsidian Dome loop.

One team managed to obtain a perfect score for the day, Team #129 4xEventure (Nena Barlow/Teralin Petereit) made their way through the course in their 2024 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon 4xe to not only cross the finish line first but capture all available points from the day. Rounding out the top three for the 4x4 class was Team #188 Dirt Hustle (Laura Wanlass/Maria Guitar) in second with their 2022 Ford Bronco Raptor and Team #150 Desert Roots (Shelby Hall/Rori Lewis) in third with their 2023 Ford Bronco Raptor.

Interestingly, the top four finishers for the day in the 4x4 class were all within six points of each other and all have the Bone Stock designation, showing that the vehicle in your driveway is more capable than you think. The special Bone Stock designation is for vehicles that don’t have any modifications beyond off-road tires. The award is given to both the individual team as well as the manufacturer.

Landing the top spot for a rookie team on Day 1 of this year’s rally was Team #118 Dirt Dames and Games (Elizabeth Siegel/Natalie Muscat). “Emily suggested to plot everything and see how the course reveals itself," said Team #118 Dirt Dames and Games, Elizabeth Siegel. “In the morning, we had a couple of different ideas. We were trying to save as much time as possible in places. That allowed us a little more time once we got to the X checkpoints, which we were pretty sure we were going to do but we weren't 100% sure because it sounded a little scarier. But once we got into it, we really had a blast.”

Leading Day 1 of the X-Cross Class was Team #200 Built Wild (Melissa Clark/Jessica Moore) who have just three points over their fellow Ford teammates in the 2023 Ford Mach-E Rally, Team #202 Mach-E Rally (Bailey Campbell/Kaleigh Miller). Rounding out the top three for the class was Team #205 Wild Grace 8.0 (Sedona Blinson/Rebecca Donaghe) in the brand new 2024 BMW X2 M35i in a stunning Frozen Portimao Blue.

Teams will be departing basecamp one tomorrow bright and early for their first marathon stage. Watch Rebelle Rally Live Presented by Toyota as the teams leave for their second stage of the Rally.

DAY 2
October 15, 2023
Gold Point, NV

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.

I have been following the daily results on the Rally website. Very hard fought battle going on!

TK1215

I have been following the daily results on the Rally website. Very hard fought battle going on!

It's so fun to follow, six more long days!

That looks so much fun.

Laura, Thank You for this write up. Been trying to watch the various updates on the Website and You Tube. Pictures are stunning. So cool to see. Pulling for all the Ford's to do well.

Jack Evans

Laura, Thank You for this write up. Been trying to watch the various updates on the Website and You Tube. Pictures are stunning. So cool to see. Pulling for all the Ford's to do well.

All credit to Emily Miller for her great event and her team sending out these updates, and Brian Clark for putting me on the press list! I'll keep sharing as I get each one.

I lam really enjoying the updates and photos!

DAY 3
October 16, 2023
Ridgecrest, CA

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.

Dumb question time........ After the event ends, will there be any way of getting the tracks or GPX files for the event (Do they post them anywhere)? I've checked the website before but don't remember seeing anything I could plug into my Garmin or OnX Offroad. Thinking of a future Bronco campout and ride with friends later. Thank you!

Good luck ladies!✌ 👊 💪

Broncofly

Dumb question time........ After the event ends, will there be any way of getting the tracks or GPX files for the event (Do they post them anywhere)? I've checked the website before but don't remember seeing anything I could plug into my Garmin or OnX Offroad. Thinking of a future Bronco campout and ride with friends later. Thank you!

Good luck ladies!✌ 👊 💪

@RKYMTN, any insight here? I haven't seen this either, but you would know.

The Rebelle Rally does not disclose any of there routes or areas

Broncofly

Dumb question time........ After the event ends, will there be any way of getting the tracks or GPX files for the event (Do they post them anywhere)? I've checked the website before but don't remember seeing anything I could plug into my Garmin or OnX Offroad. Thinking of a future Bronco campout and ride with friends later. Thank you!

Good luck ladies!✌ 👊 💪

Broncofly Good question
Rebelle Rally does not disclose any of there routes or areas. Melissa and I spend time out in these areas in the winter and we should publish some of our favorite spots and camping. We mainly cover most of Nevada desert areas and Johnson Valley California, Imperial Sand Dunes in the winter. In the mean time hit us up with questions.
I was at Mamoth for the start and supporting Ford Performance team. I'm heading back out tomorrow and be at Glamis for the finish.

I do a daily update each evening with Ford Performance team stats for the day.

Rebelle Rally Day 4 update

Cross over
Team 200 Melissa/Jess
195 pts day 1st place
770 pts total first in standings

Team 202 Bailey/Kaleigh
190 pts 2nd place
747 pts total 2nd in standings

4x4
Team 188 Laurie/Maria
217 3rd place
797 pts total 4th in standings

Team 150 Shelby/Rori
195 pts 6th place daily
742 pts total 7th in standings

Team 131. Karissa/Trista
175 pts 10th place
741 pts total 8th in standings
Tough competition and tough course

RKYMTN

I do a daily update each evening with Ford Performance team stats for the day.

Rebelle Rally Day 4 update

Cross over
Team 200 Melissa/Jess
195 pts day 1st place
770 pts total first in standings

Team 202 Bailey/Kaleigh
190 pts 2nd place
747 pts total 2nd in standings

4x4
Team 188 Laurie/Maria
217 3rd place
797 pts total 4th in standings

Team 150 Shelby/Rori
195 pts 6th place daily
742 pts total 7th in standings

Team 131. Karissa/Trista
175 pts 10th place
741 pts total 8th in standings
Tough competition and tough course

Thanks Brian!

DAY 4
October 18, 2023
Ridgecrest, CA

Competition Day 4 was a stage filled with twists and turns reminding even the most seasoned Rebelles that you can’t get too comfortable. Today took the teams on an on-time enduro out to the famed and haunting Trona Pinnacles. From there they hunted checkpoints continuing southward to the Red Mountain area and a completely new challenge. At a mid-day green checkpoint, teams were given the option to choose the regular or X checkpoints. If the team selected the X checkpoints, they had to hand over their 1:50,000 and 1:100,000 maps where they were sealed away. Competitors were then given a small map with a 1:60,000 scale, forcing teams to construct a handmade minute ruler or use a standard cm ruler and math equations to plot the accurate coordinates. While sounding simple, it is an advanced navigation skill that requires an understanding of how dividing space on a map works. Thirty-three of the 65 competitors opted to take on this challenge and see if they could improve their score with extra points.

After a long day of competition, teams returned to the Ridgecrest basecamp which saw some familiar teams on top. Ford teams were once again in the first two positions for the X-Cross™ class with Team #200 Built Wild (Melissa Clark/Jessica Moore) on top and Team #202 Mach-E Rally (Bailey Campbell/Kaleigh Miller) in second. Rounding out the top three of the class was Team #206 KiAloha (Susie Saxten/Verena Mei). The smaller but extremely competitive class currently has an overall tie for third place as Team #206 and Team #205 Wild Grace 8.0 (Sedona Blinson/Rebecca Donaghe) both have 706 points so far in the competition.

In the 4x4 class, Day 4 ended with Team #129 4xEventures (Nena Barlow/Teralin Peterit) on top followed by Team #187 Limestone Legends (Alex Anderson/Lilly Macaruso) in second and Team #188 Dirt Hustle (Laura Wanlass/Maria Guitar) in third. Competition is still heated as the top four teams, which all are in the bone stock designation, are fighting for each and every point.

This stage resulted in a busy evening for Chief Mechanic, Nick Cimmarusti, and the rest of the mechanics team as they had as many as 18 competitors at one point of the night. “The biggest things we're seeing is rocks taking out a sidewall, so tire failures, we are seeing a lot that are not repairable. And then the other big thing we're seeing is suspension or drive train issues from severe drop-offs with squared-off edges and big ruts that are through the roof. So that's what broke the Jeep axle in half. It's caused some other suspension problems tonight and some superficial problems with bumpers and front valences,” said Cimmarusti, “Any way to avoid it? Don't drive where you can't see.”