Maxxis RAZR AT Traverses 1,500-Mile Rebelle Rally
When Honda’s three teams braved this year’s Rebelle Rally, their Honda Passport TrailSport and two Honda Pilot TrailSports were outfitted with Maxxis’ flagship all-terrain Maxxis RAZR AT LT265/60R18 119/116S LRE.
Held October 12-21, the Rebelle Rally featured a 1,500-mile course that wound through the deserts of Nevada and California. Navigation, discerning hidden checkpoints and balancing time and distance were more important than speed in this rally, and the lack of what is now considered vital technology made an already demanding event even more difficult. Cellphones and GPS were forbidden, so drivers Elizabeth Long and Hillary Tate of the Honda of America Racing Team (HART) (Team 208); automotive journalist Mercedes Lilienthal and navigator Emily Winslow (Team #211); and Nicole Rotondo and Serena Halterman of Honda Performance Development (HPD) (Team #212) navigated using only 20th century tools: maps, compasses and a roadbook.
Despite the multiple challenges presented by the rally, the teams turned in fine performances throughout a backbreaking week. Long and Tate won the X-Cross class for Day 7, took third place for Days 5/6 and were fourth for Day 3; Rotondo and Halterman were third for Day 7 and fourth for Days 5/6; and Winslow and Lilienthal were fourth on Day 4 and fifth on Day 1.
Driving vehicles equipped with a stage-rally proven tire was an asset for the team; the RAZR AT has been the tire of choice for the HART-Maxxis Rally Team’s Honda Passport in American Rally Association (ARA) national and regional competition since 2021. Created using feedback from Maxxis’ champion off-road drivers and with knowledge gained from years of involvement in off-road racing, the RAZR AT is in its element in unforgiving desert terrain. Maxxis’ engineers designed this tire with a puncture-resistant sidewall that also adds extra traction, a compound that minimizes tears, and tread blocks and bridge reinforcements that decrease irregular wear.
HART is made up of Honda associates from the company’s Ohio-based Auto Development Center. The team consists of associates from Honda’s development and manufacturing facilities across North America. Additional information on all three of Honda’s 2023 Rebelle Rally Teams can be found here.
OE Account Manager Mark Lin is pleased with Maxxis’ collaboration with the Honda-based team: “We’re thrilled that we were able to support Honda’s initiative to send three teams to the Rebelle Rally. These women competed against first-class drivers, and they should all be proud of taking on such an extraordinarily challenging event.”
