Buchanan battles to 16th as Rueda seals chaotic championship in Moto3

In a race riddled with front-running crashes and ultimately cut short by a red flag, Jose Rueda kept Angel Piqueras at bay to secure the championship crown. Amid the chaos, Kiwi racer Cormac Buchanan delivered a combative performance of his own, trading passes throughout a dramatic contest.

Qualifying:

Buchanan was one of the first out of the pits in Q1, immediately putting down a 1:39.443 lap that placed him sixth, 1.181 seconds off leader Jacob Roulstone. He improved on his next run with a 1:39.220, though that wasn’t enough to hold position as Luca Lunetta moved to the top of the timesheets, pushing Buchanan back to seventh.

By the time he returned to the track for a final run, late improvements from rivals had shuffled him down to ninth. He managed a 1:39.208 on his first flyer but saw his last effort deleted for track limits. Ninth in Q1 translated to 23rd overall, placing him on the middle of the eighth row for Sunday’s race.

“Took a solid step this morning which set me up well for a good qualifying, but poor positioning on my part meant I couldn’t get a solid lap on the board. Disappointing as this isn’t the result we were capable of. But just means more work to do for tomorrow’s race, elbows out tomorrow to make the best comeback possible.”

At the front, Adrian Fernandez stormed to pole with a 1:37.022, edging clear of the field.

Championship leader Jose Rueda secured ninth on the grid with a 1:37.547, while title rival Angel Piqueras lined up just two places back in 11th.

Race:

Buchanan endured a difficult getaway, slipping to the back of the pack as those around him launched cleanly off the line. Undeterred, the Kiwi immediately began to fight back, carving through traffic to climb to 18th — five places higher than where he started.

Locked in a close battle, he trailed Arbi Aditama by just 0.04 seconds before making his move on lap two. The momentum was short-lived, however, as a trio of riders behind him found a way through, shuffling him back to 20th.

Elsewhere, Riccardo Rossi, running in 21st, was handed a double lap penalty for a jumped start, adding further drama to the early stages.

At the front, the action was relentless. Pole-sitter Adrian Fernandez came under heavy pressure from Maximo Quiles, the pair duelling for the lead as several frontrunners traded paint with minor clashes in the opening laps.

Angel Piqueras initially held fourth, fighting to keep his championship hopes alive, but began to slip backwards, eventually falling to 10th — directly behind title rival and points leader Jose Rueda.

On lap five, Australian Joel Kelso provided more drama when he lost control and crashed off the circuit. Though able to remount and continue, he rejoined at the tail of the field.

Further down the order, Buchanan was locked in a fierce midfield scrap. He clawed his way back to 19th before losing out to Zen Mitani, who still owed a long-lap penalty. Before Mitani served it, Buchanan was also overtaken by Ber, leaving the Kiwi in 20th.

Undeterred, he found more pace, fighting back into 19th before dispatching Marco Morelli and Mateo Bertelle to rise to 17th. But the progress was short-lived.

Morelli came back through on lap ten, followed quickly by Bertelle and Scott Ogden, dropping Buchanan to 20th once more after a bruising couple of laps.

The drama only intensified as the laps wound on. Early in the second half of the race, Zen Mitani — who had been running at the back — crashed out and was unable to continue.

At the front, championship leader Jose Rueda surged into contention. Moving up to second while rival Angel Piqueras languished in ninth, Rueda’s advantage was suddenly enough to put the title beyond reach.

Moments later, he forced his way into the lead by going wide through a corner and sweeping past two riders in a single move.

In the midfield, Buchanan was in the thick of constant battles, shuffling between 16th and 20th as he repeatedly traded places with the riders around him.

Disaster struck the frontrunners on lap 15. Taiyo Furusato and Alvaro Carpe ran side-by-side into a corner, only for David Almansa to dive down the inside and misjudge his line, colliding with both and wiping all three out of contention. Furusato attempted to rejoin but crashed again soon after, bringing his race to an end.

The following lap delivered another twist. Running fourth and fifth, Maximo Quiles and Piqueras were both hit with long-lap penalties for shortcutting, effectively ending Piqueras’ faint title hopes.

The chaos continued right until the closing stages. With three laps to go, race leader Fernandez collided with David Muñoz at Turn 12, sending Muñoz tumbling across the concrete. Fernandez continued on at the front, but the accident brought out the red flag on the penultimate lap, bringing the race to an early close while medical crews tended to Muñoz.

Through the carnage, Buchanan crossed the line in 16th after a combative ride filled with overtakes and counter-attacks.

Rueda was ultimately declared the winner after Fernandez was penalised post-race for his clash with Muñoz. More importantly, the result sealed Rueda’s championship crown, with his advantage over Piqueras stretching to more than 100 points.

For Buchanan, attention now shifts closer to home, with Moto3 heading to Australia on October 17–18.

Header Image: Cormac Racing