Buchanan stays on two wheels to bag points at Le Mans

Otago Daily Times

12-05-2025

Southland racer Cormac Buchanan has bounced back in style to bank valuable Moto3 World Championship points at the Le Mans circuit in France.
Buchanan, 18, finished 14th in the 20-lap showdown yesterday to add another two points and take his rookie season tally to 11.
It was a confidence-boosting performance for the teenager and his Denssi Racing Boe crew after a setback at the previous round last month in Spain, where he finished 19th after a crash.
"For me the goal was just to finish the race and see the chequered flag, ideally in a points position," Buchanan said.
"Overall, it was a great weekend for me.
"After having crashes in the last two races, we lost all of our momentum and, honestly, a little bit of confidence, so this result helps build that up again for the coming races.
"It's a base that we can build on now and it's a great result considering our qualifying position of P19. It's a step forward with more points.
"I'm now looking forward to the next round at Silverstone where we will focus on putting another brick in place on this foundation we're creating."
Adding Le Mans' unpredictable weather into the equation, there was an air of uncertainty right up until riders made their way to the grid and opted for slick tyres.
"We went out on the sighting lap and the track was more or less dry, despite it raining quite heavily in the morning, although there were quite a few wet patches which made it a bit sketchy."
Continuing his impressive race starts, Buchanan gained six positions in the opening lap and stuck comfortably with the main group.
In the latter stages, the pace improved in front and the group started to break apart.
"I get pretty good starts and this race was no different, going up six places and getting myself into a great position and battling in the group," he said.
"It was a bit difficult because some hairy moments on the track made me lose touch with the group at times and I found myself yo-yoing back and forth to them. I had to work hard to get back within touching distance and then struck some late grip issues.
"I had to ride within myself. Not wanting to throw away a good result I had to play it safe a little bit to bring the bike home."
Buchanan also showed a good pace in free practice before narrowly missing promotion to Q2 by a frustrating 0.015sec.
"The margins are so tight when it comes to qualifying, but I can be satisfied we gave it a strong nudge despite working alone and in windy conditions."
He will be back in action for the next round at the Silverstone circuit, in the United Kingdom, on May 23-25.
— APL