Cheraw, SC -- The word among the motorcycle community is beginning to buzz about the National Auto Sport Association’s (NASA) RallyMoto™ Program leading up to its inaugural event, the 2007 Sandblast Rally.

RallyMoto™, NASA’s brand of cross-country motorcycle rallying is to run in conjunction with selected events in 2007 in its well-established national automobile stage rally program. RallyMoto™ is similar to "Rally Raid," which is considered by many to be the toughest motorcycle sport in existence. In essence, the riders have to navigate around an extended course interspersed with timed, full speed sections called "special stages" or "special tests". The route between each special stage is known as a "liaison section" and is run at normal road speeds (several terms originate from French, as many of the International events, notably the Dakar Rally, are run by French organizations).

The Sandblast Rally, infamous for its vehicle swallowing sand on certain sections that has stranded more than one rally car in the past, promises to be a challenge for the bikes as well. “Sandblast is about the closest you can get to Dakar style racing in the Eastern United States,” stated Anders Green, organizer of the Sandblast event, “It’s got both deep sand and fast sections, and I guarantee that the bikers will be worn out after their 200 plus mile day on their machines.”

The RallyMoto™ portion of the event is already attracting significant interest, including the Team Max BMW team being led by Max Stratton running at least three BMW R1200 HP2s in the above 650 cc class, as well as Andrew Fekete on an Adventurer’s Workshop sponsored KTM, and Jim Goodlett on an ESSCAPE.com sponsored KTM LC4 640 Enduro. While shaping up to be a BMW versus KTM battle in the middle and large bore classes, the 250-450 cc class appears to be the province of Suzuki, with a pair of DR400s already slated for entry.

“We are looking forward to running the bikes,” continued Green, “It will be interesting how the event finishes out, as it is unclear which classes will have the best advantage given the conditions of the rally. However, anyway you slice it, it will be a challenge for all the competitors, and surely will be a great start to what we envision will be a new, different and extreme series of events for the bike community as well as for the automobile rally community in the United States.”

More information on the Sandblast Rally, including a RallyMoto™ FAQ, can be found at www.sandblastrally.com. More information on NASA’s RallyMoto™ program, including rules, can be found at www.nasarallysport.com.