Steve Boniface will once again board the CAS Honda CRF450R for this weekend’s Grand Prix of Sweden at Uddevalla.

The 25-year-old made a promising start during his CAS Honda debut at Teutschenthal, where he showed promise during practice and qualifying in the super-challenging MX1 class. However, unfortunate collisions caused damage to his machine in both of the two German Grand Prix motos, which forced the disappointed Frenchman to retire. Boniface was drafted in to replace Mike Brown and was looking strong throughout the entire race weekend, although this didn’t quite transfer into the results he had hoped for.

Boniface is more determined than ever ahead of the Grand Prix of Sweden, and following some more time to familiarise himself with the factory Honda machinery, the MX1 rider is looking forward to another outing with the CAS Honda outfit. A firm decision on who will board the bike for the remainder of the season is still yet to be made, and at present the team is operating on a race-by-race basis.

Meanwhile Billy Mackenzie has been recovering from the cracked shoulder blade he sustained in France just under a month ago. The Scottish-ace showed some fighting form and led for many laps in both races of the German Grand Prix, despite suffering somewhat from the painful injury that has thwarted his progress in recent times.

Mackenzie has continued with a strenuous physio programme and is looking forward to this weekend’s race, where he hopes he can gain more valuable points in the ultra-competitive World Championship series.

Neil Prince: CAS Honda Team Manager

“Steve made a good start last weekend and he was in good positions throughout practice and qualifying. It was unfortunate he was unable to finish the races due to damaging his machine in a few minor collisions, although his form in the opening stages of both motos was unquestionable. We’ve made some adjustments to his bike during the week in relation to the valuable comments Steve made post-race and I’m really looking forward to seeing what we can achieve together in Sweden. At present we’ve made no firm decisions on who will permanently take the seat of our CRF450R for the rest of the season, so we’re working on a race-by-race basis for now until we are sure that it is an ideal situation for both the team and rider. Billy is recovering well and although his shoulder injury hindered his progress last time out, I am confident that having had another week of rest he should be strong again this weekend. Hopefully we can get some more points in the bag and realise the potential of the team, machine and rider at Uddevella.”