- Kiwi Shows Strong Early Pace – Southland teenager Cormac Buchanan demonstrated genuine competitiveness during practice and qualifying at the Moto3 season opener in Thailand.
- Race Ruined by Early Incident – Contact on the warm-up lap damaged Buchanan’s bike, forcing him to restart from the back before a crash ended his comeback attempt.
- Positives Ahead of Brazil – Despite the setback, Buchanan believes the CODE Motorsports team has taken a big step forward and is confident heading into the next round.
Kiwi Moto3 rider Cormac Buchanan showed impressive speed at the opening round of the 2026 Moto3 World Championship in Thailand, but a warm-up lap incident and mechanical issue ultimately ended his race early.
New Zealand Moto3 racer Cormac Buchanan has taken plenty of positives from the opening round of the Moto3 World Championship in Thailand, despite a frustrating end to the race for the Southland teenager.
Riding for the CODE Motorsports team, Buchanan showed encouraging pace from the very first practice sessions, building on experience gained during his rookie campaign last year. The improved confidence and familiarity with the Moto3 environment translated into a strong performance throughout the weekend, with the Kiwi demonstrating the speed needed to fight for points.
However, the race itself quickly unravelled when Buchanan was caught up in contact with another rider on the warm-up lap, causing damage to his bike that would ultimately end his chances of a result.
“On the warm-up lap, another rider made contact with me, and this subsequently damaged my bike, which caused it to shut off completely on the first lap at turn 3. It was scary with a number of bikes behind me, and luckily I didn’t get hit,” Buchanan said.
The incident forced Buchanan to restart the bike after losing significant ground to the field, dropping him to the back of the pack.
“I managed to restart the bike but lost about 10 seconds from the leaders, dropping me dead last. I was motivated to try and catch the race back up but perhaps a bit too determined. I was pushing really hard to try limit the damage and ultimately ended up falling. Yes, it would have been a long, tough race anyway, but trying to close that gap would have been a great challenge.
“It’s not the way we wanted to start the season, but the positives far outweigh the one negative this weekend, so those are the things I will take with me to Brazil. The way we worked as a team was amazing, and we’ve taken a huge leap forward from last year – it’s like night and day to be honest – and for me, this is the most important thing.
“We have 21 more opportunities this season and will make sure we will show what we are capable of in the next races.”
Building Momentum
Despite the disappointing result, Buchanan’s performance throughout practice and qualifying sessions suggested genuine progress compared with last season.
Following a productive pre-season, the young Kiwi arrived in Thailand feeling more confident and competitive on the Moto3 machinery.
“It’s clear we’ve continued the momentum, and I’m feeling more competitive, calmer and confident, which is something I lacked last season,” he said.
“The goal going into the weekend was to continue working on the trajectory we had from the official test. It’s easy to ride well and consistently when you have so much track time in testing, but to do that in the high-pressure environment of a race weekend is a different story, so for me, that was one of my main focuses.
“We took a very, very big step forward and were able to find a really strong rhythm on the bike, which translated into speed. When we went for the time attack in practice, unfortunately, we hit traffic and lost 0.4 seconds in the last sector and missed going directly to Q2 by just over 0.1 seconds, so it was very close, but I’m happy to be in the fight.”
Buchanan again showed competitive pace in qualifying but was unlucky to miss progressing further.
“In Q1, on my flying lap, I found a solid spot and was setting red sectors, but again caught the group in front on the racing line and had to overtake a few riders, so I lost a bit of time. I still kept pushing to try and get the maximum out of that lap, but unfortunately, it was not enough by 0.017 seconds. That’s racing, especially in Moto3, but we knew we had the pace to fight in Sunday’s race.”
The Moto3 World Championship now heads to Brazil for the next round, where the entire grid will face a new circuit for the first time — potentially giving Buchanan and the CODE Motorsports team an opportunity to turn their clear pace into championship points.
With the first race now behind him and strong speed already demonstrated, the Kiwi rider will be aiming to capitalise on the remaining rounds in what promises to be a long and competitive Moto3 season.
Photo credit: Manu Tormo
