(Agua Dolce, Calif.): As competitors from around the world prepare to engage in a new off-road motorsports tradition with the New Year’s Day opening of registration for the 6th annual General Tire Mexican 1000 and new Cortez Rally, the National Off Road Racing Association (NORRA) has finalized additional support for the two-wheel motorcycle crowd.

In conjunction with the MAG 7 pitting organization, NORRA will offer free pit support for all motorcycle and ATV competitors registering for the 2015 NORRA Mexican 1000 before January 30th, 2015. Those competitors registering by that deadline will receive a complimentary entry into MAG 7’s “Full Service”8 level of pit support and 2.5 gallons of free gas (a $1,000 value!) at pitting locations strategically placed over next year’s four-day, 1,300-mile trans-Baja Mexican 1000 rally.

In what has become an off-road motorsports New Year’s Day tradition, official registration will commence online on January 1, 2015 at precisely 12:00 p.m. (noon) Pacific Standard Time (PST). Official rally registration paid in full will guarantee early entrants the chance to pick their own vehicle number and earn a front starting spot within each class the first day of competition.

The New Year’s Day registration will take place online at a revamped NORRA Website (www.norra.com). Based on growing interest by competitors wishing to enjoy NORRA’s unique hospitality and camaraderie, the organization expects the upcoming New Year’s Day registration to be strong. Last year’s registration set a single-day record of 73 entrants, a healthy number that grew to an event record of 174 racers by the drop of the green flag last May in Ensenada, Baja, Mexico.

From the very onset of Baja motorsports, motorcycles have always had a special place in NORRA Mexican 1000 history. Indeed, the inaugural running of NORRA’s Mexican 1000 in 1967 was born from a yearning to find out what vehicle could run down the exotic Baja peninsula faster – two wheels of four? With that heritage in mind, NORRA today announced two additions to it’s 2014 General Tire NORRA Mexican 1000 event designed to better address the needs of its two-wheel and powersports (ATV/UTV) competitors.

MAG 7 is a brotherhood of racers and pit crew that formed at the 1969 Mexican 1000 (known as the Magnificent 7) in the true Baja spirit of support and helping each other when south of the border. The group has been part of every NORRA Mexican 1000s rally since its revival in 2010.

NORRA’s highly popular four-day Mexican 1000 run down Baja’s scenic peninsula from Ensenada to Cabo San Lucas is the sanctioning body’s main focus, the new Cortez Rally will follow an international style of rally raid competition that includes on-road “transit stages,’ off-road “special sections” and overnight stops. NORRA has perfected this format over the past five years of hosting the Mexican 1000, and for 2015 has introduced changes to its Evolution, Rally Raid and Historic Trophy categories by mandating road book and odometer-only navigation that falls in line with international Rally Raids and future Cortez Rally events.

All motorcycle classes will race on separate starting dates and courses to greatly enhance the level of safety for the two-wheel crowd, and will run road book navigation for both the Mexican 1000 and Cortez Rally.

Motorcycle and car competitors who wish to take on the Cortez Rally in 2015 will start their adventure in Mexicali April 22nd and will tackle three Dakar-inspired stages that will see the bikes and cars finish in Ensenada April 24th. All Cortez Challenge teams will be pre-registered for both events in Mexicali so they have time to work on their bikes and cars before resuming the Challenge with the start of the Mexican 1000.

Known as the “Happiest Race on Earth,” the NORRA Mexican 1000 is scheduled to take place from Saturday, April 25 through Wednesday, April 29, 2015 and will run the length of the Baja peninsula from the seaside city of Ensenada to the land’s end near Cabo San Lucas.