Carlton Dry Honda Thor Racing's Cheyne Boyd got his 2011 season off to a solid start in atrocious conditions at the 2011 MX Nationals at Victoria's Broadford State Motorcycle Complex today.
After qualifying 4th fastest and finishing only a point of the podium the Victorian has put himself in a good position to continue the season.
Acknowledging that he overrode during qualifying Boyd said he was pleased with the way he recovered from poor starts during the four races.
"I definitely overrode during qualifying," Boyd explained. "Every lap I made little mistakes which cost me time and I ended up fourth fastest.
"The team did an amazing job with the added pressure of the new four-race finals formats imposed. They were well organised and everyone really worked well in what was a high-pressure situation.
"I was disappointed with my starts but overall I am very happy with how we performed today. The team structure was good and I have come away with solid points and only three points off second," he concluded.
Teammate Michael Phillips endured mixed results but also impressed with his ability to come back through the pack following incident.
Phillips finished the four races 5-7-11-14, and despite the conditions came through from dead last in the third moto following a turn one pileup.
"I had a bit of a mixed bag today," Phillips said. "Under the circumstances 10th overall isn't too bad, it could have been a lot worse.
"No-one predicted the conditions, it was crazy. It really did turn into a survival situation.
"The team did an amazing job to turn the bikes around in such a short space of time so overall there were a lot of positives," he added.
Team Principal Yarrive Konsky praised his team for a job well done under extremely difficult conditions.
"Both riders rode very well in the conditions and the new team structure ran seamlessly under the direction of Mike Landman," Konsky said.
"Mike's experience in these condition really helped the team who worked tirelessly to make sure both riders went back out with the best possible equipment.
"Overall it was a very positive day and Cheyne really showed the benefits of his strength and conditioning training under full time sports physiologist Jarrah Breese.
"He was one of few that were able to come back through the pack from bad starts," he added.
The next event sees the series head north to Appin Motorcycle Track on Sunday 3rd April.
Main Photo: Cheyne Boyd during a dry qualifying session
Credit: Garry Morrow
