VNR Alert: 2025 Rebelle Rally Day 1

Day 1 of the 2025 Rebelle Rally Presented by Iridium spanned 133 miles (214 km) and was rated a 1 for difficulty on a scale between 1 and 5. Competitors can expect the challenge level to amp up gradually, culminating in back-to-back level 5 days at the end of the rally. Rebelle Rally Founder and Director Emily Miller said the route showed off elements of what makes Nevada great for off-road driving. Teams skirted the south end of a large dry lake bed, then they climbed the Weepah Hills west of Tonopah. At the first green checkpoint, they started an on time enduro leading up to Paymaster Canyon before descending to Alkali Dry Lake Bed. Continuing on, teams had the choice between the regular or X route, which descends into Monkey Face canyon. If they chose the regular route, the teams crossed Railroad Pass before rejoining the route just south of Silver Peak. These locations represent some of the famous, populated mining towns of the 1800s and early 1900s.

One such town on the route was Goldfield, once the largest and most influential town in the state now considered a “living ghost town.” This 1902-established gold camp quickly became the most influential, richest, and largest city in Nevada for a time, with a peak population of 20,000 people. Today this “living ghost town” of around 250 residents wows with several beautifully preserved, tour-able original buildings, a couple authentic Sagebrush Saloons, rockhounding opportunities, paranormal activity, oddball art, and far more. 

Before they left the starting line, Team 172’s Peg Eaton brandished a crocheted cactus with a crochet hook sticking out of it.

“Our goal is to stick it today,” she said.

Day 1 Results and Challenges 

Today, three-time 4×4 champions Nena Barlow and Teralin Petereit (Team 129) collected an impressive 98 percent of available points; no team scored less than 50 percent. Petereit and Barlow have teamed up to win and podium multiple times, and on the Rebelle Rally Live YouTube show they said they welcome the challenge of competition. 

“Other teams getting closer and closer to us makes us better,” Barlow said. “It makes us work harder.”

At the end of the competition day, Rebelle Rally LIVE Presented by Toyota Co-Host Katy Talyancich asked each competitor to offer one word to describe their Day 1. Several described the day as “easy,” knowing more difficulty is to come. 

Today’s course certainly wasn’t easy for every team, however. Team 155 (Liza Beres and Jenna Fribley) finished their day having achieved 93 percent of the total points available and earned a ranking of 11 in their 2022 Land Rover Defender 90. However, getting back to base camp wasn’t a smooth ride, as a nut on their suspension system dislodged, which required Fribley and Beres to stop every 600 meters to adjust the bolt to keep it in place. Their first stop after their final green checkpoint was the mechanic’s garage, where they were able to replace the nut easily and quickly.

Team 155 wasn’t the only team with mechanical difficulties. Rebelle Rally Chief Mechanic Nick Cimmarusti and his team received a call mid-day from Team 141, sisters Melissa Vander Wilt and Rochelle Bovee. Vander Wilt and Bovee’s “third teammate” is a 1991 Toyota Land Cruiser, the oldest vehicle in competition this year. 

“The team was on course and started experiencing some drivability issues with their car slipping in higher gears,” Cimmarusti said. “They started experiencing some slippage in third gear and that developed into slippage in second gear and first gear. They called for mechanical assistance somewhere around noon and we sent mechanic Mike Shaffer out with a trailer to pick them up.”

Fortunately, Team 141 was located fairly close to a connector road leading to Highway 95. The Toyota was towed back to the garage at base camp, where the team diagnosed a transmission issue. Cimmarusti and Shaffer worked together to find a used transmission in Las Vegas and they purchased it on behalf of Vander Wilt and Bovee for $100. While the transmission was in transit, one of the other mechanics drove to a Napa Auto Parts in Tonopah to pick up all of the necessary fluids to make the switch. 

“We’re pretty confident that we’ll be able to swap it in and have it rolling by morning,” Cimmarusti said.

While this marks its sixth straight year as a valued Rebelle Rally partner, Iridium’s technology has been at the heart of the rally since the very beginning. Every team carries Iridium-connected YB Tracking devices in their vehicles for checkpoint signaling, which sends live vehicle locations and scoring data from along the competition route straight to the rally’s automated leaderboard. Vital components of the rally like safety, scoring, communication, and real-time updates are all powered by Iridium, making this extreme outdoor endurance event possible. 

Learn more about all of the ways Iridium connects the world through communication at iridium.com.

The Rebelle Rally Live Show is Underway!

Presented by Toyota, the Rebelle Rally Live Show is streaming October 10-18 and bringing you daily coverage straight from the desert. Watch live and view the full broadcast schedule at rebellerally.com, or tune in on YouTube or Facebook. With the largest number of teams ever and the longest course to date, Year Ten is already one for the books.

Text Credits: Rebelle Rally
Photo Credits: Rebelle Rally
Video Credits: Vigils Films

TV broadcasters: ICARUS Sports’ output from the Rebelle Rally 2025 is now uploaded on ICARUS Sports SERVER:

VNR SHOTLIST:
Raw_Material_Rebelle_Rally_1.mov – Direct download* HERE.
00:00 – 00:26: Interview: Teralin Petered (Toquerville, Utah – USA) Team 129 (Returning Champions)
00:27 – 00:50: Interview: Nena Barlow (Clarkdale, Arizona – USA) Team 129 (Returning Champions)
00:51 – 01:10: Interview: Karen Hoehn (Del Mar, California – USA) Team 108 (100% Rebelle)
01:11 – 01:47: Interview: Liza Beres (Valenica, California – USA) – Team 155
01:48 – 01:54: Drone – Mammoth, CA – Tech Inspection 
01:55 – 02:02: Drone – Mammoth, CA – Tech Inspection 
02:03 – 02:12: Drone – Mammoth, CA – Tech Inspection 
02:13 – 02:22: Drone – Basecamp 1 – Fish Lake, Nevada 
02:23 – 02:32: Drone – Fish Lake, Nevada – Prologue 
02:33 – 02:42: Drone – Fish Lake, Nevada – Prologue
02:43 – 02:53: Drone – Team 205 Fish Lake, Nevada – Prologue
02:54 – 03:00: Action – Cars Enter Rebelle – Mammoth, CA
03:01 – 03:06: Action – Tech Prep – Mammoth, CA 
03:07 – 03:12: Action – Tech Inspection – Mammoth, CA 
03:13 – 03:19: Action – Teams Plotting – Basecamp 1, Nevada
03:20 – 03:23: Action – Team 183 Plotting – Basecamp 1, Nevada
03:24 – 03:30: Action – Team 173 Plotting – Basecamp 1, Nevada
03:31 – 03:39: Action – Team 114 Day 1 Course Heading, Nevada
03:40 – 03:45: Action – Day 1 Team 118 Course Traverse – Nevada 
03:46 – 03:49: Action – Day 1 Course Traverse – Nevada
03:50 – 03:54: Action – Day 1 Course Traverse – Nevada
03:55 – 04:00: Action – Day 1 Team 205 Course Traverse, Nevada
04:01 – 04:10: Action – Day 1 Team 123 Course Traverse, Nevada
04:11 – 04:16: Action – Day 1 Team 122 Course Traverse, Nevada
04:17 – 04:25: Action – Day 1 Team 167 Course Traverse, Nevada
04:26 – 04:31: Broll – Day 0 Founder Emily Miller, team welcoming – Mammoth, CA 
04:32 – 04:40: Broll – Day 1 Team 112 High Five – Fish Lake, Nevada 
04:39 – 04:49: Broll – Teams Embrace – Basecamp 1 – Fish Lake. Nevada
04:50 – 05:00: Broll – Day 1 Team 199 + Emily Miller – Starting Line – Fish Lake, Nevada

*direct download links expire in 30 days

Please find here the link in order to register and use ICARUS Sports server:
http://portal.icarus-sports.com/

As long as you register, you will get access to our folder with the Events 2025.
Subfolder: Rebelle Rally 2025

Please note that the direct download links might not work with all browsers such as Google Chrome. You may use an alternative browser such as Mozilla Firefox, alternatively visit the ICARUS Sports server directly to access our content.