WSS: Melissa Paris Utah summary

A WEEKEND OF HIGHS AND LOWS

Tooele, Utah... The FIM Supersport Championship at Miller Motorsports Park, May 29-31, proved to be a weekend of both highs and lows for well-known rider Melissa Paris, the only female to ever qualify for a World Supersport event.

"This was a huge challenge." explains Paris. "The first practice session didn't come along as well as I'd hoped, but my team was able to get my R6 working awesome by Saturday morning. We qualified without any problem and were ready to grid up. Our Markbilt Yamaha R-6 was right on and our entire team definitely had high hopes for the race."

Powering off the starting grid, Paris, who hails from Oceanside, Calif., got a great start ahead of other wild card riders and even a few series regulars.

"My hope was to tag on with some of the guys that had qualified just ahead of me. I knew if I got away on the start with them, I could try to latch on and see what I could learn. Unfortunately in turn five on the first lap I got tangled with another rider and nearly crashed. By the time I recovered there was already a small gap to the next rider," she continued, "At that point my only option was to put my head down and try to chase down the guys in front of me. Unfortunately that was not to be. On lap six we had an engine problem and our day ended.

"It was definitely the best and then it was the worst," exclaimed Paris, with obvious disappointment. "To be able to compete with the greatest Supersport riders in the world was incredible and an unbelievable honor. It is something I wouldn't trade it for anything. Unfortunately, we had an engine problem which could not be foreseen. It was definitely disappointing, because I knew I was capable of improving on my qualifying position, but I know it is all part of racing and things don't always go the way we would like. I learned an enormous amount and that will certainly hold me in good stead for the rest of the season.

We would all really like to thank GYTR and LeoVince and CycleRider for stepping up their support for this event and to Phiten, Pirelli, Pilot Leathers Yamalube, Pit Bull, HelpMeRide.com and Motorcycle Mall for their continued support.

-credit: mp