Suffering intense physical pain, motorcycle racer Cormac Buchanan felt a sense of relief when the chequered flag emerged at the Grand Prix of Brazil yesterday.
The Southlander quickly emerged as a leading contender during the weekend’s sessions before gravel left on the track from a crashed rider sent him into orbit at pace and derailed his campaign.
Buchanan, 19, suffered injuries to his back and ribs in the horror crash, ultimately forcing him to battle through the pain and accept P18 in the Moto3 World Championship’s main event.
Naturally disappointed, Buchanan was taking a positive attitude overall.
“It’s obvious that wasn’t the end we were expecting. Despite that, I would rate this as my best weekend in the world championship to date,” he said.
“From the very first session in FP1 I was fast in the wet and then the following two dry sessions I had the top two in both of those. I felt really strong and my race pace was there to be the fastest.
“In FP2 a rider had crashed the lap before and they didn’t put out any flags to warn me of the gravel on the corner so when I went in, I had an off-throttle high side. The impact was really strong and it caused a lot of force on my ribs and back. I knew immediately something wasn’t right.”
Buchanan’s challenges were compounded by another spectacular high side in qualifying, staged nine hours later due to a sink hole appearing on the circuit’s main straight needing urgent repairs.
“I reset for the qualifying but admit I made the mistake of being a bit too excited to be one of the favourites to take pole position. I just wanted it too soon and needed to be a bit more patient which is a good lesson as I know we will find ourselves in that position many more times,” he said.
“Remarkably I got back on track but wasn’t able to set any competitive lap times which meant I had to start P18. It was a massive effort from the team and myself having to run back and forth from medical after probably the biggest high side of my life. Strangely enough, that wasn’t the one that hurt – I came away with just a black eye.
“I was certainly feeling the effects of the FP2 crash but the pace was there and I was determined to fight in the race.
“When I woke up on Sunday morning I was struggling to breathe and move my body, as anyone who has had problems with ribs before can relate to. My goal was just to try and get as much therapy and treatment as I could before the race and the physio did everything he could in the short timeframe we had.
“When I got on the grid I was in a lot of pain but still the first laps were great and I made up some ground and I felt really comfortable passing people, being patient and saving the tyre because I knew I had the pace. Then the adrenaline wore off and I knew it was going to be a really long race. I wasn’t able to breathe properly.”
The injuries impacted his riding technique.
“My strong point this season is in the hard braking and I ride with a lot of weight on the back of the bike. With my ribs and back I was unable to move like I needed to and was forced to sit further forward on the bike which puts a lot more force and pressure on the front wheel, making it want to tuck and we had an issue with that last season.
“I wasn’t able to ride to my style which put me much more on the limit and took away my greatest strength so I wasn’t able to pass people and I just fell back through the pack. That’s when I switched the goal to just finishing the race.
“There were so many times I thought about pulling in because the pain was too much but it was important for me to get a race distance under my belt no matter how bad it was.”
When the race was reflagged, a shortened five-lap sprint was ordered to decide the result.
“In the restart I got another good launch and thought I would be able to fight for the points but there was another big crash in front of me I had to avoid so that ruined my chances and I knew it would be impossible to achieve anything from there,” he said.
“It was the hardest race of my life to finish but we did it.”
His gusty approach will prove vital as the championship moves straight into round three at the Circuit of the Americas in Texas this weekend.
“In terms of the whole weekend I’m extremely proud of the way we rode. Honestly, it wasn’t a surprise for me to be at the top of those sessions – I know it’s been coming. The way we’ve been working as a team has been great. We’re at round two only and we’re fighting for the top places and leading sessions – in the dry, not just the wet now,” Buchanan said.
“We’ve still got another 20 races to improve on it. It’s not a finished product yet – we still need to polish the diamond. I know that our big moment is coming and it’s important to keep working like I am.
“The goal for America is to try and get back to 100 percent fitness. The timeframe we have is only a few days so it will be difficult but I’m going to do my best.
“We hold our heads high and take so many positives out of it.”
Header Image: Manu Tormo Fotografía
