Young Bermudians are burning some serious rubber on the USA?s motocross circuit.

In fact, four of them have qualified for the semi-finals of one of the country?s top races ? The National at Loretta Lynn Ranch ? and next month will be competing for places in the August 2-7 final.

Shaki Easton, 22; De-Andre Smith-Lightbourne, seven; Jonah Smith, six, and five-year-old Jyire Mitchell have already booked their places in the age-group semi-finals while Jonah?s brother, Jonte, 12, still has a chance of doing likewise.

Bermuda Motocross Club (BMC) official Dean Smith explained the guys have been participating in the 2004 AMA (America Motorcycle Association) National Motocross Championship of which The National at Loretta Lynn Ranch is one event.

Smith explained that, in qualifying competition, the first eight riders from each race advance to the semi-finals.

?This is one of the most prestigious races in the USA. Many of the guys who are big professionals now actually came through this race and that?s how they got noticed,? said Smith, the father of De-Andre Smith-Lightbourne.

?Once you go to the semi-finals, the first eight riders go on to the finals. So far four Bermudian kids are in the semi-finals.

?We go to different regions so that, if we qualify for the semi-finals in more than one region, it gives us many chances to go to The National final.

?If we go to one semi-final and we don?t make it there we can go to another semi-final we have qualified for and see if we can get in there.?

The Bermudians will compete in three semi-finals next month in Ohio, Virginia and Georgia and hopefully at least one of them will make it to The National showdown. Regardless of their outcome, Smith is already ecstatic about what he is witnessing from the junior riders.

?These kids have shown great character leaving Bermuda to compete overseas with a lot of top-class riders.

?Here we have maybe ten riders, at the most, on the starting line. When they are out at these races they have nothing less than 30 riders on the line which can be very intimidating and our guys are placing in the top eight.

?We even have a few riders who have come first so they are doing really well.?

The Bermudians have excelled so much that the AMA?s Sports Manager came to the Island last weekend to see what?s being done here.

?He has been watching our kids and seeing how they are developing and he is very impressed,? Smith continued.

?He couldn?t believe that, given the calibre our riders are, we?re only able to ride for four months of the year and only two days of the week during that four months.

?He was saying they do pretty well in competitions. Some of the races they qualified at were on a very tough track.

?He had numerous calls from other people who attended that event complaining the track wasn?t safe or well-maintained but we got good results from there.?

Lamenting the loss of the Coney Island facility, Smith hailed motocross as a valuable pursuit for youngsters and called on Bermudians to support the sport further.

?A lot of people think motocross it?s just a bunch of hooligans riding up and down but it?s actually something positive. We are trying to keep our kids occupied in a positive way,? he stressed.

Meanwhile, another motocross rider, Kenshae Wilson, advanced to the final of the Canadian National Motocross Championships last weekend.

The nine-year-old placed first in his age group?s 65cc class and third in the 50cc class. He will return to Canada for the finals in August.