Kiwi Moto3 rider Cormac Buchanan, competing with Dennsi Racing/BOE Motorsport, headed to the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli for the San Marino and Rimini Riviera Grand Prix, looking to rebound after a bruising run of four consecutive DNFs, the latest coming from a crash at Barcelona just one week earlier.
Buchanan’s rookie campaign has demanded patience and resilience. Flashes of pace have been there, particularly in qualifying and mid-pack fights, but handling issues and ill fortune have prevented him from converting potential into points.
Determined to reset, the Southlander arrived in Italy motivated to get his season back on track.
Friday’s opening session saw Buchanan place 20th, 1.629 seconds off championship leader José Antonio Rueda, with a best time of 1:42.846.
“Definitely a much better Friday here in Misano,” Buchanan reflected.
“We adapted faster to the track, and from the first moment, the team and I worked hard on our programme. I didn’t maximise the new tyre at the end, but I felt happy with the direction and knew the areas we could improve.”
Buchanan improved steadily through practice. In FP2, he climbed to 19th, cutting six-tenths off his time to set a 1:42.239, before finding another half-second in FP3 with a 1:41.687, just 1.1 seconds off the session’s benchmark from David Muñoz.
“The first stint was really positive, I felt competitive straight away and learnt some new things,” he said.
“Time attack was hectic, like Auckland’s 5pm traffic, and I couldn’t find clear track. Still, my feeling with the bike was a big step forward, and I was happy with the progress.”
Buchanan carried that momentum into Qualifying 1, where he posted a 1:41.982. Initially, it looked enough to advance, but his best lap, four-tenths quicker, was deleted for marginally exceeding track limits.
He ended up seventh in Q1, short of a place in Q2, and lined up 21st on the grid.
“It’s disappointing because the lap we lost was one of my best, done alone, without a slipstream,” Buchanan said.
“But the rules are the rules. The positive is that we proved our long-run pace was strong and that we’d made a step forward.”
Buchanan launched brilliantly on Sunday, making up five places by the first sector. But his luckless streak continued when contact from another rider forced him off track.
He rejoined, but with dirty tyres that quickly degraded after the heat cycle. Despite the setback, he dug deep over the remaining laps to bring his KTM home in 17th place, just outside the points, but importantly, to the chequered flag.
“Disappointed, as the result doesn’t reflect the hard work from the team this weekend,” Buchanan admitted.
“The last few races have been tough, and I had lost a bit of confidence. But this weekend, I felt like I was getting back to where I was before the summer break. Even if the race didn’t go our way, the steps we made give us confidence. It’s only a matter of time before it all comes together.”
Moto3 now takes a one-week break before heading into the Asian leg of the season, beginning with the Grand Prix of Japan at Motegi on September 26–28.
Header Image: Manu Tormo
