SHERIDAN, WYOMING – October 11, 2024 – Prior to its official reveal later this fall, the all-new 2026 Honda Passport TrailSport will make its competition debut at the 2024 Rebelle Rally, a grueling eight-day off-road challenge through the unforgiving desert conditions of the American Southwest from October 11-19.
The most adventure-ready and capable Honda SUV ever will take on the all-women off-road event without major modifications, competing in the X-Cross class.
Wearing a special Rebelle Rally wrap featuring the TrailSport logo, the early-production Passport TrailSport will be driven by two Ohio-based Honda associates and Rebelle rookies. Adia Raya, a commercial quality product engineer at the Honda East Liberty Auto Plant, and Madison Russell, a quality engineer at the Honda North American Quality Center, will compete as team #208, the “TrailSport Trekkers”.
The capability, durability and handling of the early-production Honda Passport TrailSport will be put to the test over 10-12 hours of extreme off-road driving per day. This is the sixth year Honda is participating in America’s longest off-road rally, which will begin at Mammoth Mountain in California and finish more than 1,500 miles away at a still undisclosed location. Honda engineers have used the challenging conditions of the Rebelle Rally to further explore the rugged performance of off-road components that improve the off-road capability of production TrailSport models.
Tested on challenging terrain all over the country, the 2026 Passport TrailSport will compete without modifications to its rugged chassis, off-road tuned suspension, powerful 3.5-liter V6 engine, responsive 10-speed automatic transmission and torque-vectoring i-VTM4® all-wheel drive system. For competition, variation from production spec is limited to the fitment of Maxxis RAZR All-Terrain tires engineered with know-how gained from the brand’s rich history of off-road racing. The Honda Baja Ridgeline Race Truck has won many events on Maxxis tires, including the prestigious Baja 500 and Baja 1000.
“We can’t wait to take the all-new Honda Passport TrailSport on one of America’s most demanding off-road competitions to show off its rugged capabilities,” said Raya. “The Passport TrailSport is engineered to perform in these extreme environments and we’re going to have a lot of fun pushing its rugged capability and ourselves to the limit.”
The duo is competing as part of the Honda of America Racing Team (HART), a unique racing program run entirely by Honda associates who work at Honda operations throughout the United States. Russell is currently a crew member on the HART IMSA team and one of the lead strategists and crew chief for the HART Road Race team.
The Rebelle Rally is a unique event where teams strategically navigate the rugged terrain without the assistance of GPS or cellular navigation. Instead, teams rely on traditional elements of paper maps, compasses, and headings to navigate to hidden checkpoints, with the goal of accruing the most points and reaching the finish line each day. The event runs 10/11-10/19, and the team can be followed online with live tracking and scoring.
About Honda
Honda offers a full line of clean, safe, fun and connected vehicles sold through more than 1,000 independent U.S. Honda dealers. The award-winning Honda lineup includes the Civic and Accord, along with the HR-V, CR-V, Passport, Prologue and Pilot sport utility vehicles, the Ridgeline pickup and the Odyssey minivan. The Honda electrified vehicle lineup, representing more than a quarter of total sales in 2024, includes the all-electric Prologue SUV, hybrid-electric Accord, CR-V, and Civic, and Fuel-Cell-electric CR-V e:FCEV.
Honda has been producing automobiles in America for over 40 years and currently operates 18 major manufacturing facilities in North America. In 2023, more than 99% of all Honda vehicles sold in the U.S. were made in North America, with about two-thirds made in America, using domestic and globally sourced parts. More information about Honda is available in the Digital FactBook.
About the Honda of America Racing Team (HART)
Founded more than 30 years ago, the Honda of America Racing Team (HART) is among the longest-running associate-driven activities in Honda's rich history and includes the majority of associate-led racing teams in North America. HART competes in a wide variety of motorsport competitions ranging from road racing, club-level events, rally or off-road racing, or even karting. HART provides invaluable experience to associates through motorsport, while transferring vehicle performance learnings into the development and manufacturing of next-generation Honda and Acura products.