Largest Rally In America Starts This Weekend

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* Sandblast Rally kicks off February 17th

* 68 teams largest in America since 2002

The NASA Rally Sport’s 2007 Sandblast Rally starts on Friday, and with 68 teams converging on Cheraw, South Carolina, it will be the biggest rally in the America in years. The entrants include both cars and new for this event, motorcycles.

The rally has some new stages this year, increasing the length of the event to just over 76 miles. Trigger is all new, featuring narrow roads and a long water crossing. Fire Drill has been expanded to three times its original length, and now includes a very technical section covering what was a train bed many years ago.

“The bike teams have really turned this into a large event”, said Anders Green, who is the chairman of the event. “NASA Rally Sport came up with a trademarked program called ‘RallyMoto™’, which lets street legal bikes run the stages. I think it’s great to have somewhere in North America where bikers can get a little taste of what Dakar is like. Not just the terrain, but the style of a stage rally event. We’ve certainly got the sand, even if we don’t have the dunes!”