Melissa Paris to be first woman to compete in WSS this weekend at miller.
 

American Melissa Paris becomes the first woman rider to take part in a World Supersport championship event this weekend when she lines up on the grid on a Markbilt Racebikes Yamaha YZF alongside her male colleagues in the seventh round of the championship at Miller Motorsports Park.

Paris may have started racing only six years ago but she picked up the love of riding motorcycles fast from a boyfriend, her four brothers and her husband who taught her what it would take to be a successful racer.
"Sometimes I feel less pressure because I feel like no one expects anything out of me," declared Paris. "I put enough pressure on myself. The competition this weekend is going to be insane ... To crew it up with the fastest motorcycles in the world in this class, it's amazing. I think it's important to jump in head first and see what happens."


Her husband, Josh Hayes, is an AMA Superbike champion himself and he will be in the paddock to oversee Melissa, who will race with the number 29 in honor of the September 29th birthday of her brother Bret, killed in a car accident when she was 11-years-old.


Last year she took part in the tough USGPRU 250GP class aboard a Honda RS250, coming away with two pole positions, a win, and a third place finish that secured her fifth in the National Championship.

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MELISSA PARIS DRAWS WILD CARD FOR WORLD SUPERSPORT AT MILLER MOTORSPORTS PARK

Ready to mix with the best in the world, Melissa Paris is set to make her debut in the FIM Supersport Championship at Miller Motorsports Park, May 29-31.

The first female to ever be invited to compete in the FIM World Superbike Championship, Paris will join an incredible roster of riders from all over the world in this action-packed, highly competitive event.

Introduced as a support class to the World Superbike Championship in 1990, World Supersport became a "world series" in 1997. The full title Supersport World Championship was introduced in 1999 and today it is one of the most popular classes in racing.

"Being invited to compete in this event is an incredible honor," says Paris, who will pilot a Markbilt Yamaha R-6. "This will mark the first time World Supersport has run in America and being part of the festivities is awesome. Miller Motorsports Park is a state-of-the-art racing facility and I think we have an excellent chance of finishing well."

In her first year of professional racing Paris is competing in selected AMA events, the USGPRU 250GP and as many other races as budget permits. Already this season, she has earned accolades for scoring the best finish by a woman in Daytona 200 history, beating over 50 competitors in the first Daytona 200 and she currently sits in second place in the USGPRU 250GP with just two races completed.



"Miller Motorsports Park is my favorite track," continues Paris, who hails from San Diego, Calif. "I absolutely love competing there and it certainly suits my style of riding. I took a win in the USGPRU 250GP at the end of last year and also scored a Podium finish in the 125cc class."



We are racing on a limited budget this season," explains Paris. "But with sponsorship from GYTR, Phiten, Pirelli, Pilot Leathers Yamalube, LeoVince, HelpMeRide.com and Motorcycle Mall we were able to make this work. In short, it was an opportunity we couldn't turn down.



Our bike is ready, I'm ready and so is our crew. All we need is the Green Flag and we will be good to go.

http://www.melissaparis.com/images/n...-polaroids.jpg
pretty damn cute too, cant wait to see how she does with that wildcard :rockwoot:

Awesome!! Go melissa!!

Awesome!!!

cool

I wonder if that'll air in Japan?! :lol: I'm sure I'll have to watch it when I get back.

I hope she does well. And with that resume, she could look like Hillary Clinton and she'd still be cute. Ok, not Hillary Clinton, but you know what I mean.

I just hope it's not another of these "get a girl to ride for publicity" things they put on every once in a while...

To be honest, I've never been able to figure out why women don't take over motorcycle racing. They are lighter than men (most of the time), have good stamina and decent strength to weight ratios. They are certainly competitive enough...:idk:

That makes 2 of us. From her resume she sounds like she could be the real deal though.

I think there's something in the Y chromosome that puts us in-tune with machines and makes us want to push them as far as we can. Except those needle and thread ones. :runaway:

better reaction times too, and iirc they handle g-forces better due to their (again most of the time) more compact frames. men are supposed to be better at three dimensional thinking though which could go to explain why they aren't more prevalent in racing. those guys are doing lots of unconscious math out there. that said i hope she kicks ass!

She did pretty well in the Daytona 200, I'm looking forward to seeing her run again!

Wow, didn't know this......rode with her a few times when she was still in school