MINI is taking part in the Rebelle Rally for the first time, using the all-women off-road navigation event to campaign a new, adventure-focused model variant. The rally runs 1,500 miles (about 2,400 km) across the deserts of Nevada, California and — for the first time — Utah. Felicia Killman will drive, with BMW Group Mexico’s Erika Ferrer navigating. Full details of the new variant are being held back until its global reveal in the autumn.
MINI says it will contest the 2026 Rebelle Rally, the brand’s first appearance in what organisers describe as the longest competitive off-road navigation rally in the United States. The entry doubles as a rolling teaser: the car MINI is fielding is a new model variant that has not yet been revealed in full.
According to the company, the variant represents a more rugged, adventure-oriented reading of the current MINI line-up, aimed at drivers who want to leave the tarmac behind. MINI says more details will follow this autumn alongside the vehicle’s global reveal, so specifications, powertrain and pricing remain open for now.
What the Rebelle Rally asks of a car
The Rebelle Rally is an annual all-women off-road navigation competition held across the deserts of Nevada and California, with Utah joining the route for the first time in 2026. Crews cover 1,500 miles (roughly 2,400 km) of rough terrain without GPS, relying on maps, a compass, a road book and their own teamwork.
That format makes it an unusual shop window. Speed alone does not win it; durability, ground clearance, traction and consistency over long days do. For a brand better known for compact hatchbacks and city crossovers, it is a pointed way to argue that the new variant can handle more than a gravel car park.
The crew
Felicia Killman, from Lacey, Washington, takes the wheel. She competes in the American Rally Association, has experience on the navigator’s side of the cockpit and runs a specially prepared MINI in stage rally.
Her navigator is Erika Ferrer, a member of the BMW Group team in Mexico. Ferrer began in motorsport managing championship rally teams before moving into the co-driver’s seat, where she took three consecutive regional rally co-driver titles competing across Mexico. She has also co-driven rally champion Benito Guerra on La Carrera Panamericana.
A rally record MINI keeps returning to
The brand is leaning on a well-established history here. The original Mini Cooper S won the Monte Carlo Rally outright in 1964, 1965 and 1967, using small dimensions and sharp handling to beat far more powerful machinery. More recently, MINI took international success in the Dakar Rally.
What it means
Rugged-look derivatives have become a familiar move across the industry, from raised hatchbacks to off-road-styled crossovers, and they usually pair modest hardware changes with body cladding and a lifted ride height. MINI has not said which of those the new variant involves, and the release stops short of naming the model it is based on. Until the autumn reveal, the Rebelle entry is the only public evidence of how capable it actually is.
MINI has confirmed the variant will be revealed globally in the autumn of 2026.
Source: www.press.bmwgroup.com