Article Abstract
- MINI makes its Rebelle Rally debut in 2026 with an unnamed new mannequin variant, set for a full world reveal this fall
- Felicia Killman drives and Erika Ferrer navigates, pairing a MINI fanatic racer with a BMW Group Mexico PR staffer and rally veteran
- The entry extends BMW Group’s Rebelle Rally streak, which incorporates the X5’s 2025 Bone Inventory Award and second-place X-Cross end
MINI USA will make its first look within the Rebelle Rally this 12 months, fielding a brand new mannequin variant pushed by Felicia Killman and navigated by BMW Group Mexico communications staffer Erika Ferrer throughout 1,500 miles of desert terrain. The Rebelle Rally is the longest aggressive off-road navigation occasion in the US, run with out GPS throughout Nevada, California, and, new for 2026, Utah.
Opponents work off maps, compass, and highway e book solely. MINI has skipped the occasion till now, however is utilizing it to introduce a brand new mannequin variant it’s calling extra rugged and adventure-oriented than the remainder of the lineup. BMW isn’t saying but what meaning mechanically or which current MINI it’s primarily based on; the complete reveal is scheduled for this fall.
Killman, of Lacey, Washington, already races a MINI in American Rally Affiliation stage occasions and has navigated in previous competitions. Ferrer, primarily based in Morelia, spent years managing championship rally groups in Mexico earlier than shifting to the co-driver’s seat, the place she picked up three straight regional co-driver titles and has ridden alongside Benito Guerra at La Carrera Panamericana. She now works in BMW Group’s Mexico communications workforce, so this entry doubles as each a aggressive run and a advertising and marketing project for her.
That is BMW Group’s sixth consecutive 12 months within the Rebelle Rally, a streak that began with a Rolls-Royce Cullinan in 2019 and moved by means of the BMW X2 (2023), X3 (2024), and X5 (2025). Final 12 months’s X5 ran in practically showroom-stock kind, except for aftermarket tires permitted below the Bone Inventory class, and nonetheless completed second within the X-Cross all-wheel-drive class whereas choosing up the Bone Inventory Award over 1,700 miles. That’s the bar MINI now has to clear with a brand-new variant no person outdoors BMW has seen but.
MINI’s rally credentials return additional than most manufacturers hassle to say: three outright wins on the Monte Carlo Rally within the Sixties with the unique Cooper S, plus more moderen factory-backed runs on the Dakar Rally. Whether or not the brand new variant has something to do with that heritage past advertising and marketing copy will turn into clearer as soon as the automobile itself is revealed this fall.