Competing in World Supersport at Miller last year was a total roller coaster of emotions. Right from the start, putting in my application for a Wild Card I was pretty emotionally uninvested. After all, I only had one pro race under my belt at that point. I knew there was absolutely no way they would let me compete. Or so I thought. It was such a high when I got my invite… Then there was the terrifying realization that I was in WAY over my head. The race weekend itself has its up and downs… with a less than stellar start, followed by a good qualifying session that left me feeling hopeful… and then it all ended with a blown up engine only four laps into the race.
This year I knew I wanted a second chance. With everything I learned last year, I really believed that I given another opportunity I could do much better! I’m super happy that I got accepted to compete again, and even happier that I was able to raise the funds to do it! Its been really cool because its been a bit of a grass roots effort to raise the money. We’re even going to be selling t-shirts on my website www.melissaparis.com to help come up with the funds.
Last year I didn’t know what to expect as far as what sort of equipment I would need… I learned quickly. The bikes in the World Supersport paddock are all top notch. Even the guy in last place seems to have a REALLY good bike. My mechanic, Rick Matheny of RM Racing didn’t want to do the event at all unless he could build something proper for this event. I can’t wait to ride the bike that he’s building for me because I know its going to be fast!
For now, I’m just training really hard and watching lots of old races on dvd. I can’t wait to show up and start spinning laps!
-Melissa Paris
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