Cormac Buchanan endured a bruising Moto3 weekend, battling both incidents on track and a lack of forward momentum.
Qualifying:
Buchanan began the weekend in Qualifying 1, aiming to secure one of the four transfer spots into Q2. His opening effort placed him 10th, with a lap four seconds adrift of early benchmark setter Marco Morelli, who set the pace at 1:48.546.
He responded well on his next run, finding a significant improvement of three seconds to record a 1:49.961. However, after boxing ahead of his final push, he slipped to 11th as others continued to improve.
The session underlined how tricky conditions were, highlighted by a crash for Ruche Moodley in the first half.
On his final flying lap, Buchanan delivered a strong 1:48.947 to climb to ninth, yet the late improvements from others dropped him to 10th at the flag. Missing the top four meant he did not advance to Q2 and would line up 24th for the race.
Race:
Buchanan found himself boxed in at the start, stuck at the rear of the field with no clear opportunities to move forward through the tight midfield traffic.
Up front, pole-sitter Joel Kelso maintained control of the race, steadily edging out a gap over the chasing pack.
Further back, the final group of riders traded positions regularly, yet Buchanan struggled to break beyond 22nd as the laps progressed.
On lap five, David Al Mansa slid off through the run-off area after losing control, before recovering his bike and rejoining at the tail end of the field.
At the halfway mark, Buchanan had edged up to 23rd as the battle at the back of the field intensified. However, he was unable to maintain the position for long and slipped back again as the pack continued to shuffle.
Further ahead, attrition began to shape the race. Running 17th, Jesús Ríos crashed out and tumbled down the order, followed half a lap later by Matteo Bertelle, who also came off and rejoined at the rear. The incidents continued as Guido Pini, fighting inside the top ten, lost control while sitting eighth and also fell down the field.
The succession of crashes opened the door for Buchanan, allowing him to climb to 21st. In the final moments before the finish, he made one last move, pulling ahead of David Al Mansa to secure 20th place at the flag.
After the race, Buchanan reflected openly on social media:
“Today’s race I didn’t have the feeling to push the same without risking a crash. It just wasn’t there. So I knew it was important to finish the race and keep taking more KMs for the future, so this is what I did.”
He also acknowledged the challenges of recent rounds:
“The last two weekends haven’t been easy for sure, it’s not through lack of hard effort and I know it will work out for us eventually. It’s important in times like this to keep the motivation and focus forward, and that’s how I’m heading into Valencia for the final race of this year. We are going to end this season in the correct way that we deserve.”
The 2025 Moto3 season concludes next weekend in Valencia, with racing scheduled for November 14–16.
Header Image: Cormac Racing
