Carlton Dry Honda Thor Racing new signing Cheyne Boyd says he hasn’t felt as good entering a season as what he does for this year’s MX Nationals in a long, long time.

The Victorian will make his anticipated debut aboard Honda’s CRF450R when the 2011 Australian Motocross Championship commences at Broadford this weekend, and Boyd is adamant that he’s ready to make an immediate impact.

“Everything is going unbelievably well,” said 28-year-old Boyd. “I haven’t felt this good at the start of a season for a very long time.

“I feel like I am starting the season with the complete package – I am fit and strong, the bike is really good, and as a team we have left no stone unturned in our preparation for this weekend’s opening round at Broadford.

“My mechanic and I have worked around the clock getting ready for this weekend we have continually tweaked the bike to a point where I think it is perfect and we have done a lot of race simulations with this new back-to-back race format.”

“I like the Broadford track, my past record there has been pretty good we have had a few days testing up there in the last month.”

Few can match a focused Boyd on the track, and he is eager to re-establish himself in what will be a competitive Pro Open class.

New Zealander Michael Phillips will return to the reigns of his factory Honda mount this weekend, joining Boyd in the absence of injured rider Todd Waters.

The 24-year-old, regularly a Lites rider, has turned heads on the bigger bike and is quietly confident his pre-season form can be converted to results.

“I’ve been testing the bike and am really happy with the setup,” said Phillips. “It’s a great team and I’m hoping I can open up the year with a strong result this weekend.”

The new MX Nationals race format will pit Boyd, Phillips and fellow Pro Open racers against each other in four, 15-minute back-to-back motos with a short break in between.

Riders will have to recover back at the start line and are allowed to make limited changes to the bikes.