4 Wheel Parts’ Rebelle Rally team finished 21st out of 42 in the 4×4 Class of 52 total vehicles, the company announced. Additionally, within Group B, their team won Day 5 and Day 7 for total points. Kathryn Reinhardt, 4WP’s director of Retail Marketing, and Tori Bundrant, 4WP’s event coordinator, teamed up to navigate the 8-day, 1,400-mile off-road trek with a 4WP-outfitted 4-door Ford Bronco.
“When you sign up to participate in the Rebelle Rally for the first time, you really have no idea what it really takes to get your team and your vehicle–through the 2,500 kilometers of terrain across the Nevada and California desert–to the finish line,” said Reinhardt. “It’s one of the hardest things I have ever done. It’s physically exhausting, mentally fatiguing and strategically grueling. Between the 4:45 a.m. wake-up calls, plotting tricky coordinates on paper maps, driving on faint off-road trails and strategically deciding what you can accomplish in 10 hours, it’s incredible to think 104 women from all over the world accomplish this every year.”
The 2021 race conditions encompassed rain, snow, 40-plus mph winds, extreme colds, 95-degree heat and white-out windstorms where the navigators had zero vision into the surrounding terrain, the participants said. However, Reinhardt and Bondurant were prepared. Prior to the race, they had trained, practiced and pre-ran a variety of terrains to get themselves ready, according to the team. Their vehicle was also equipped for the task with 4WP Factory products and support from sponsors, including Mickey Thompson, Method, ARB, Smittybilt, HeatWave and Rigid.
“During the rally we have no access to GPS or cell phones. Instead, we use 10-plus paper maps with a variety of scales, headings, distances and coordinates and had to plot over 150 checkpoints over the 8-day period,” said Reinhardt. “As a navigator, it really made me realize how reliant we are on GPS and cell phones every day. And also made me realize how capable and smart all of these women are throughout the rally.”
Click here to view the overall Rebelle Rally results.
