Buchanan Rebuilds Confidence With Misano Comeback

After a tough stretch of races and an ongoing recovery from injury, New Zealand Moto3 rider Cormac Buchanan showed strong signs of progress at Misano during the 16th round of the World Championship.

The 18-year-old from Southland had been struggling to find form since a knee injury at the Czech Grand Prix in July, and Misano offered a much-needed confidence boost, even if a points finish slipped through his grasp.

“This weekend we’ve taken a big step forward and the confidence is back because, honestly, I had lost a lot of that since the summer break. It’s good to head into the Asian tour with good feelings,” Buchanan said.

Despite finishing 17th, Buchanan felt his performance was a turning point in his campaign. He was hit from behind during the opening lap – the same rider who caused his crash in Assen – which forced him off the track and led to tyre issues for the rest of the race.

“Come race day I felt strong and that we could get into the points battle. I got a great start and was up five spots into P16 in the first sector and into the group ready to fight for the points. Then I got hit from behind by the same rider that took me out in Assen and that punted me off the circuit,” he said.

The contact caused his tyres to lose temperature, which had a major effect on grip throughout the race.

“It made for a tough race – a race that I told myself I just had to salvage what I can which was P17 in the end. The main thing was to finish the race but there are elements of disappointment – to miss out on Q2 by millimetres and then the race conditioned by what happened on lap one.”

Still, Buchanan was upbeat about his progress across the weekend.

“Honestly, it has been a really, really tough period for me lately with three DNFs on the spin. It’s not a run of form any racer wants and we came to Misano with a clear goal in mind to turn that around before we head away on the Asian tour. We achieved that,” he said.

Qualifying also brought its frustrations, with a lap quick enough for Q2 cancelled after he touched the green section of the track by mere millimetres.

“Looking at the data we lost over half a second in the straights compared to the rest of the field and still achieved it so I was happy because I did the lap but not happy because half my wheel was on the white and half on the green so it felt like the punishment didn’t really fit the crime.”

Buchanan now prepares for the upcoming Motul Grand Prix of Japan at the Motegi Circuit on 26–28 September.