Clarke has been offered a ride in the new Moto 3 four-stroke class that will this year replace the two-strokes of the defunct 125GP class, but must first raise the required sponsorship.

``I'd be competing in the same Spanish championship at which Valentino Rossi, Casey Stoner and many others started out,'' Clarke said.

``Road racing is huge there - they'd get 80,000 spectators to a local race and 150,00-200,000 to a round of the Spanish championship or a MotoGP round.''

Clarke said that he got to know the team boss after buying specialist parts from him for the 125GP bike he races here.

``He's a really good tuner and as our relationship developed, I sent him my rider profile - out of the blue I received an email last week offering me the ride,'' Clarke said.

``I was over the moon - to be offered a team ride at my age (40) is amazing when you think of the age of most of the riders in the feeder classes.''

Clarke, originally of Perth, said that he did not own his first motorcycle until he was 29 and soon decided he did not have much of a future unless he traded the road for the track.

``I saved up for a few years to buy a 250cc production racer and was soon beating people on 600 and 1000cc machines,'' Clarke said.

``It was always my dream to race motorcycles.''

Clarke said that if he received the sponsorship required to take up the Spanish offer and finished in the top 10, he would be paid to ride the following year and possibly progress to World Superbikes or Moto 2.

He can be contacted on 0433 978 821.