Toyota engineers will be sporting helmets for the second consecutive year as they represent the company in the 2022 Rebelle Rally competition, beginning later this week. Toyota will have three teams in the annual off-road navigation rally, exclusively for women competitors covering 2,500 kilometers of terrain across the Nevada and California desert, that runs from October 6-15.
The Toyota teams feature four team members from Toyota’s production engineering division in Georgetown, Kentucky – which is the bridge between Research & Development and Manufacturing that designs and builds the assembly lines, machines and factories that produce vehicles – and two from the North American R&D headquarters in Michigan working on product development and vehicle performance.
Two teams will compete with 2022 Toyota Tundra models: Team 152, production engineering’s Samantha Barber and Becky Brophy in a Limited TRD Off-Road; Team 153, Crystal Mink and Kara Yde from R&D in a TRD Pro. The other team, Team 182, featuring Libby Perego and Caroline Koenig from production engineering, will compete in the “SHEquoia,” a specially branded Toyota Sequoia making its second consecutive appearance in the event.
The Rebelle Rally is not a race for speed, but a unique and demanding event based on the elements of headings, hidden checkpoints, time and distance using maps, compass and roadbook.
For Toyota, the experience enables its engineers to become more intimately familiar with the vehicles in which they are competing to support the company philosophy of continuous improvement. The participants relay the experiences back into their respective organizations to help make ever-better vehicles for customers.
“The Rebelle Rally is the ultimate go-and-see opportunity to experience the diverse ways customers use our products,” said Kara Yde, senior program manager in the Product Development Office on the full-size truck team.
Toyota is the presenting partner of Rebelle Rally’s Live Webcast, which will be broadcasting throughout the competition, offering updates and interviews with participants from checkpoints along the way.
“The visibility generated by this event to the overlanding and off-road capabilities of our vehicles is a huge asset to the Toyota brand,” said Tyler McBride, senior manager for the Toyota Brand and Growth Audiences at Toyota Motor North America. “It’s also an opportunity to showcase Toyota vehicles to women considering a full-size pick-up truck or SUV as their vehicle of choice to support their lifestyle.”
Live tracking to follow the progress of Toyota Teams along with the Live Webcast will be available at https://www.rebellerally.com/.
