Snapshot

Unlike so many up and coming road racers these days, Melissa Paris doesn’t have motorcycle racing in her blood. Growing up with four older brothers she naturally was a bit of a tom-boy. You'd think she might have picked up her love for riding motorcycles from one of her older brothers, but other than one ill-fated day of riding around on a mini-bike with no brakes that her Dad had bartered for, her childhood was filled with much more traditional sports. Playing baseball from the age of 5 until 14 on a boys team, she dreamed of one day making the professional ranks. However, somewhere along the way, she got burned out on the sport and all the Little League politics and decided to try some other sports including swimming, water polo, track, and even a brief foray into BMX racing.

It wasn’t until her freshman year at SDSU that Melissa was introduced to motorcycles. After many spirited rides on the back of a friends sportbike in the canyons of San Diego she was hooked. With the help of a student loan she soon had a Yamaha FZR-600 and a set of leathers.

Less than a year after throwing her leg over a motorcycle for the first time, she was entering her first race at the Streets of Willow Springs on a CBR600RR. Although she started well past the mid-point of the season she turned expert in time for 2005. On the advice of more experienced friends Melissa sold the 600 and bought a 1998 RS125 for her first expert season. She rode the GP bike to several WSMC podiums. After moving to the East Coast in 2006 she secured her first 125GP win at Roebling Road and began making the transition back to the middleweight classes. 2007 saw Melissa competing in the WERA National Challenge Series and WERA National Endurance Series where she co-rode to several wins and even more podiums. She also made a few USGPRU appearances on the Celtic Racing 125, taking a third place during the AMA Superbike event at Miller Motorsports Park. For 2008 Melissa decided to compete in the hotly contested USGPRU 250GP class aboard a 2000 Honda RS250. Despite some growing pains with the new machine and a little bad luck she still walked away with two pole positions, a win, and a third place finish to secure fifth in the National Championship. In addition, she was the winner in a battle royale at Daytona International Speedway for the CCS Lightweight GP National Championship.

When away from the race track Melissa can be found training on her road bicycle, at the pool swimming, or riding motocross.