Cormac Buchanan
Moto3 FIM JuniorGP Championship
With Stephanie Redman
As we were in the middle of our summer break in Europe, we thought we’d touch another young shooter making waves in the FIM JuniorGP Championship Moto3, Cormac Buchanan. He is the only Kiwi to fly the New Zealand flag in both this and the Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup. The final race will race this weekend at the Red Bull Ring as a supporting act for MotoGP.
Competing in his first road race at Wakefield Park in the inaugural Oceania Junior Cup Series (OJC) in 2019, it was a quick learning curve from the Yamaha YZF-R15 to the Moto3 machine. .
The same year Cormac competed in the OJC, he also tried his hand at the Red Bull Rookies Cup, making it to the third and final day of selection. He was unsuccessful for next year’s championship, however, he was selected to compete in 2021 and is now halfway through his second Red Bull Rookies Cup season.
Riders often combine these two championships together to increase track time and develop the driver. For 2022, Cormac is also competing in the European Talent Cup (ETC) Championship with Team AGR.
This is the entry tier of the FIM Junior GP European Championship and provides a good intro, however, the motorcycles ridden in the Red Bull Rookies Cup are closer to the Moto3 class. So when AGR Racing Team boss Anscari Nadal offered him the chance to compete in Moto3 at the Portimao ring, of course he jumped in.
Cormac rode at Portimao earlier in the year for official testing with the Red Bull Rookies (but unfortunately missed the opening race weekend due to Covid) and showed good pace, so it was a decent pick. for his Moto 3 debut at the FIM Junior GP European Championship.
The class is fiercely competitive, and Cormac finished in a respectable 19th place in Sunday’s race, just 32 seconds behind the leader and in the fight for 13th place.
Stepping up the categories, I asked him about the differences between the two bikes.
Cormac Buchanan shared, “The front end is a lot more powerful on the Moto3… With the ETC bike, you have to be super smooth… the bike can’t handle too much because the front is not very forgiving.”
The transition from ETC to Moto3 is a transition that some riders take a whole season to overcome, of course riding the Red Bull Rookies KTM Moto3 will help, but in order to get the results. This over a weekend is a testament to Cormac’s work process.
From the very beginning, he loved the bike and he credits his AGR Team a lot for this, as the bike performed well from the first ride, just Adjust some points over the weekend. He finished his first official practice session with a time of 1:50.223, just 1,844 seconds from the leader, landing him at P24.
Despite a small low point in FP2, he managed to rejoin quickly and continued working in hotter conditions, improving his time once again finishing 21st across the board. time. Qualifying on Saturday, he dropped to an impressive time of 1:49,284, which is just 1.102 seconds from the fastest qualifying time combined and put him P18 in the net for Sunday’s race.
While Cormac has raced some of these riders in the Red Bull Rookies Cup, many of them are newcomers. Not only does he try to achieve the best he can, but he also tries to learn how to ride horses and how to race the people around him.
“It was definitely more aggressive and that affected my race initially when I was defeated on turn 1 in the opening lap and pushed off the track on turn 3 – let’s talk about a start for the junior world championship! But I managed to regain my speed quickly and close the 4-second gap to get back on the hunt with the team fighting for 13th place overall.” Cormac said when asked about his racing experience in the Moto3 class, “I finished 19th, very happy with that in my first race and only three days on Moto3.”
Overall, it was a very successful weekend for Cormac, showing that his riding style is right for the Moto3 machine and that progress will come from his willingness to work. This eye-opening experience has shown Cormac what he needs to do in the future and this is where he will focus on training during the summer break.
When asked about having another chance to compete on Moto3 with Team AGR, he explained “The team is definitely keen to see me for more experience and time on the bike to keep the momentum going. I need to make the most of every opportunity I get to ride with the aim of putting together a successful JuniorGP campaign on Moto3 in 2023.”
With FIM Junior GP The European Championships will host an independent Moto3 round at the Misano World Circuit in early September, in support of the MotoGP World Championship, Cormac will once again ride Moto3 with the AGR Team.
I have a saying that I use a little bit when talking to riders and parents, ‘It doesn’t matter where you are, as long as you’re making progress. ‘ It’s been fantastic after Cormac’s journey and I look forward to seeing him continue to progress at Misano in less than a month’s time.
