The green flag will drop on the 2006 motorcycle racing season at Clearwater Motorsports Park this Sunday.

And with two new class additions and an overall increase in the number of racers, Bermuda Motorcycle Racing Club president David Jones says there will be no shortage of drama at the East End facility over the summer months.

?Everyone is ready to go and everything is looking very good,? Jones said.

The Mini Bike class has been expanded to include a Mini Bike Open class while for more advanced riders a new GP 80 class has been added.

?We try to keep speeds down for the younger riders and that?s why we now have a junior and an open class (Mini Bike) while the GP 80 class is a smaller version of the GP 125 class. It is a bike for the older bunch not quite ready for the 125cc class,? Jones explained.

Meanwhile, numbers in the SuperBike class (600cc) had also increased.

?Last year we had three participants in this particular class but now numbers have increased to eight and we also have a few police officers that have actually joined our ranks,? added Jones.

?We still have a few dominating riders like Devone Bailey in the Scooter class and John Cook, Shannon Caisey and Cyril Whitter in the GP 125 class. They will be back battling but there is always that upstart that is going to be there on their heels waiting for them to make a mistake.

?Last year Kyle Pimental (GP 125) surprised everyone on one race day when he came from behind and blew the competition away ? and that was quite exciting for even myself to watch. He just stepped up his game and performances such as these can come from any class and the potential for someone to shine on any given day is always there.?

With an eye on the future, Jones intends to place more emphasis on the younger riders this season. ?I?m really working on my youth programme, obviously that?s where you always want to start,? he said. ?If anything that?s where we have been growing the most and most of our participants are kids.

?And I?m quite happy with that because obviously that?s where you are going to have to build from ? from the bottom up. I?m quite pleased to see more kids coming to the track accompanied by their parents.

?This is probably the best place for kids to start riding motorcycles because by the time they reach 16 years of age they will be a much better rider at that particular stage of their lives.?

The season will kick off with an exhibition of classic cycles and then a series of races for the Howard Lambe Enterprises Trophy.

Admission is $7 for adults and $4 for children 12 and under. Racing begins at 2 p.m.