Globetrotting Peris Finds a Home at Erion Honda

22-year-old Chris Peris earned himself a much coveted ride with Erion Honda in 2009 following a most impressive privateer effort during the 2008 AMA Superstock Championship, securing fifth in the final points tally on the strength of six top fives, including a career first AMA podium.

The Calgary, Alberta native took an atypical path to landing that seat, putting in appearances all over the globe while hoping to get noticed.

"I've ridden just about everywhere," Peris explained. "I raced in Canada, I was always kind of riding down here, I raced World Supersport, the New Zealand championships, I raced in Australia… kind of a little bit of everywhere."

For the past handful of seasons, the promising talent has appeared to be on the verge of securing that breakthrough opportunity but it took longer than he expected to finally come to fruition.

"Yeah, it was pretty frustrating," he admitted. "It never really seemed to happen. We ended up going to Europe for a year-and-a-half and it was really good experience being over there, but I was kind of out of the States for a while and I'm sure that didn't really help my chances of landing a ride here. Last season was the first time really putting in the full American series together as well as Canada. It was busy but it all worked out.

"I couldn't be happier to ride for such a well-established team. The bikes have proven they can win in the past and it's going to be a good deal to be part of it."

While Peris was waiting his turn, watching (likely) teammate Jake Zemke lap under the lights during the first half of the Friday evening session, the Canadian did put in his first laps on the CBR600RR this morning.

"It's different from the Gixxer 1000. It's like anything else. I'm sure by the end of the weekend I'll have a pretty good feel for it. It's just different but overall it feels really small and nimble and handles really well. I'm sure we'll get there."

The Canadian was not only in high spirits after signing his new deal but also thanks to a much-needed visit to Daytona Beach and today's near 80-degree highs. "It was like minus 15 Celsius (5 F) when I left. It was pretty cold. It was nice to get out of it for sure."