REBELLE RALLY FAST FACTS

When: Every year during October. 2019 was the fourth year running.

Where: Every year, the rally starts north of Lake Tahoe, spanning off-road territory north of the Mexican border. Course details are top-secret and change every year.

Who: This year, 38 all-women teams. That’s 76 women, with ages ranging from 23 to 71. This event brings in women from all over—gals from the US, Canada, Australia, South Africa, and even Norway.

The Challenge: The Rebelle Rally tests each team’s grit, determination, and willingness to succeed. Topographic maps and a compass are the only navigational tools allowed. Speed is just one objective. It’s also about precision, time management, and driving skill.

The Mission: Every morning, each team is given a list of coordinates for hidden checkpoints. It’s their job to find as many as they can, in order, during each day of competition. Teams must record each checkpoint as they “close.”

All teams get enduro challenges

too: time, speed, and distance minirallies. There’s a lot to keep track of!

Teams that garner the most points at the end of the rally win their class. In addition to best-in-class, other awards include the bone stock winner, the rookie award, the international cup, or even a team spirit award.

The Vehicles: Teams may use a bone stock 4x4 or crossover vehicle, or a vehicle that is fully customized. The only caveat? It must to be street-legal. Participants may rent, borrow or own the 4x4 or AWD crossover for the rally. Diesel vehicles are allowed.

This past year, Rebelle Rally vehicles included 30 4x4s and the largest crossover turnout in Rebelle Rally history—8 CUVs. Toyota teams showed up in force. They had their largest showing yet.

This year’s vehicle firsts:

Mitsubishi and Rolls-Royce OEM manufacturers each brought a vehicle for a team to rally. It was the biggest OEM presence ever: seven different manufacturers.

Cost: In addition to the registration fee, competitors must pay for rental equipment—like a checkpoint tracking device, a tracker for their vehicle, and satellite phone. They must also save up some dough for fuel.

THERE ARE VARYING DEGREES FOR

CHECKPOINTS:

Large green flags, which are mandatory stops and usually worth

the most points

Smaller blue flags or poles Black poles, which are nearly invisible