I would suggest before even thinking of entering a race with a hybrid or whatever that you spend some time riding with the local 'fast' club rides, see if you can keep up with the peloton on their training rides.
the largest of the local clubs here runs a weekly saturday morning ride, usually broken into a/b/c groups...
The C ride is between 25-35 miles, at 10-14 mph, with 1,800' or less of elevation. The B ride is for the intermediate rider with distances of 35-50 miles, at 12-16 mph pace, with 3000' or less of elevation and A rides may cover 40-80 miles, at a 15-20 mph pace, and 3,000' or more of elevation.
If you have any hope of road racing, you'd best be able to keep up with the front of the pack of the A group. These rides have several breaks to regroup, a road race wouldn't.