The 2025 Moto3 British Grand Prix delivered a drama-filled showdown at Silverstone, with breathtaking overtakes, race-altering crashes, and a photo finish that saw Jose Antonio Rueda clinch victory by just 0.046 seconds.
For New Zealand’s Cormac Buchanan, it was a gritty ride that ended in points, salvaging a tough weekend with a determined charge to 14th place.
Heartbreaking Qualifying for Buchanan
Racing for the DENSSI Racing – BOE, Buchanan came into the weekend with solid practice form, including an eye-catching 6th place in FP2. But qualifying was a bitter pill to swallow. After showing a blistering pace early in the session, setting the fastest overall time in Sector 1, his hopes of advancing to Q2 were dashed following a high-side crash at Turn 3.
Though provisionally within the top four and looking strong, the red flag caused by his fall disrupted his rhythm and left him 19th on the grid. Fortunately, the Kiwi walked away unscathed.
Under crisp blue skies and swirling winds, the 15-lap race got underway with Alvaro Carpe (Red Bull KTM Ajo) starting from pole due to teammate Rueda’s back-of-the-grid penalty, despite Rueda having initially claiming his second pole of the season.
With 26 bikes on the grid and the championship battle heating up, tension filled the Northamptonshire air.
Buchanan got off the line cleanly, immediately climbing three places to sit 16th after the opening lap. Up front, David Almansa led the early charge ahead of Carpe and Maximo Quiles, but it wouldn’t stay that way for long.
Lap 2 saw the first of many position shuffles. Quiles took control of the race, followed by Carpe, Joel Kelso, Luca Lunetta, and David Muñoz, while Almansa dropped to 12th after a mistake.
A lap later, Muñoz surged to the front, but the lead continued to change hands rapidly, with Kelso pulling off a daring move to snatch the top spot.
Disaster struck Kelso at the beginning of Lap 5 as he crashed while leading, ending his race prematurely. Moments later, Muñoz suffered a fiery crash of his own, sliding through what appeared to be a patch of liquid on the track, which ignited as he went down.
His bike flipped violently into the gravel, becoming the third retirement of the race after Dennis Foggia had also exited earlier.
With the front-runners dropping like flies, Quiles regained the lead, followed closely by Lunetta, Carpe, Ángel Piqueras, and Guido Pini.
Back in the midfield, Buchanan continued to grind away, holding steady in 16th through the halfway point. On Lap 8, he made a clean move past Riccardo Rossi to climb to 15th and set his sights on the top-10 scrap ahead.
At the same time, Almansa reclaimed the lead at the front in a titanic battle with Carpe and Quiles, as the top five changed almost corner by corner.
Despite starting from the back of the grid, Rueda was the man on the move. With five laps to go, the Spaniard had sliced his way into the top five and was far from finished.
As the laps ticked down, Buchanan slipped back to 16th after Rossi retook the place, but the Kiwi stuck with him, knowing that every point could count in the back half of the season.
With two laps to go, Rueda sensationally took the lead from Quiles while Valentin Perrone quietly inserted himself into podium contention. Less than two-tenths separated Rueda and Quiles at the front as Piqueras and Lunetta brawled over third.
The final corners delivered Moto3 chaos in vintage fashion. Piqueras, set for a podium, crashed out on the last corner, handing third place to Lunetta.
Quiles bravely grabbed the lead up front, but a wide moment at the third-to-last corner allowed Rueda to pounce. The Red Bull KTM Ajo rider surged ahead in a drag race to the line, winning by a razor-thin margin of 0.046 seconds in one of the closest finishes of the season.
Behind the leaders, Buchanan stayed locked onto Rossi’s rear wheel and ultimately benefited from Piqueras’ crash to move up to 14th—rewarding his perseverance with two championship points.
Race Results (Top 5):
- Jose Antonio Rueda (Red Bull KTM Ajo)
- Maximo Quiles (CFMOTO Valresa Aspar Team)
- Luca Lunetta (SIC58 Squadra Corse)
- Valentin Perrone (Honda Team Asia)
- Alvaro Carpe (Red Bull KTM Ajo)
Cormac Buchanan – 14th (+2 points)
It was a weekend that tested Cormac Buchanan mentally and physically. Still, he responded with tenacity and a valuable points-scoring finish. With lessons learned and speed shown across practice, the Kiwi heads to the next round with confidence and clear signs of progress in a fiercely competitive Moto3 field.
“Mixed feelings after today’s race here in Silverstone,” said Buchanan
“Positives to take out of today’s race: we saw the chequered flag and have once again been inside the points positions, so we need to be happy about this. The race didn’t start well for me; the windy conditions made it quite treacherous, to say the least.
“I was blown off the track while riding with the front pack, I lost a lot of ground from this and lost touch with the front group, in these windy conditions it made it difficult to close the gap back to them.
“I had another moment on the 4th lap where the wind caught my front wheel and, when it landed back on the tarmac, bent my handlebar in, which made things more difficult for the rest of the race.
“This weekend as a whole has been really positive, one of our best of the year so far. Despite it not being reflected in the result, the work behind the scenes is paying off. Being disappointed with a points finish just shows where we know our potential is.
“Rome wasn’t built in a day; good things take time. I know it’s only a matter of time before the result of our hard work will pay off”
Moto3 returns in two weeks for the Aragon Grand Prix, a standout event on the calendar held at MotorLand Aragon, nestled between Madrid and Barcelona.
Since its debut in 2010, the Grand Prix has brought world-class racing to the region. While the circuit is modern, it continues to honour and uphold Aragon’s deep-rooted motorsport tradition.
Header Image: Dast Media
