Biography

Born on 12 September 1977 in Navarcles, a small Catalan town some 50 miles inland from Barcelona. Melcior took his first competitive steps at the age of 10, riding in a number of national and regional biketrial championships. Melcior Faja made the switch to motorbikes in 1991, riding a GasGas 125 in his first trial races.

After a number of regional runner-up places in Catalonia in this discipline at junior and senior level, along with several national podium finishes, he had a hard time with injuries. In 1996 he was riding a KTM 125 for the Marsimoto team. He competed in the Senior 125 category national enduro championship, earning a notable 14th scratch place in what was his first ever enduro race.

At the end of the season budgetary constraints forced him to hang up his boots until 2006, when he once again competed in the Senior B 4-stroke enduro category national championship, finishing third, and in 2007 was runner-up in the Senior B 2-stroke championship, discovering in the process how satisfying and effective a 2-stroke can be.

Melcior is currently the only Spanish rider to have reached the finish of the most important international extreme bike races, including the ERZBERG RODEO, RED BULL ROMANIACS and HELL'S GATE. He has also completed Spain's BASQUE XTREME and GORDEXOLA XTREME. Melcior Faja married Mónica in 2002 and has 3 children: Melcior, Marcel and Ariana.

After racing for various manufacturers and as a privateer, Melcior signed a contract for the 2012 season with KTM SPAIN as the Austrian marque's professional rider, providing him with all the resources he needs to reach the very top, in terms of both mechanics and equipment. With the new KTM 250 EXC 2T and a personalised training programme, Melcior has now found the perfect ally to keep him motivated and secure.

For the 2012 season he has attracted the attention of the Ecuadorian oil firm ADRIALPETRO as one of his main sponsors, providing him with economic support for the new season.