Ye, like Licht said, I prefer my ele and my engineer, but we can’t tell you what you like. All classes have an equally change on getting to max level, finishing the game, getting elite stuff like a legendary etc. Some are slightly better when doing things alone, some are better when do things together.
If you are a total newcomer, go to http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Profession and pick what you like. You might want to change later, but a class is so personal Noby can tell you what your going to like.
When it comes to race, again this is personal, If you come from e.g. WoW, there is no reall benefit from being in one race or the other (the racial skills are nice and good, but for example, there is no real difference between the golom, the two hounds or the druid), so pick what you like for the story:
Asura are small and very intelligent. They are the geeks of the game and will remind everyone bout how smartass they are.
Charr are soldiers, they train hard and fight tuff. they will be very likely to be happy to serve in the army.
Norn are brawlers. They can be found in bars, drinking too much and fighting anyone who insult them, but in the end they can hold their liqour and really fight hard. But they are also great storytellers and like to sit down to tell their indian story’s bout the spirits of the wild.
Humans are noble and proud, once they fought they where the superior race, but slowly they are starting to understand that they are not. They are however very good as born leaders.
Sylvari are a very young and mystic race of dreamers. They believe that karma decides what they are and wich way to go.
