Combating sketchy conditions, New Zealand racer Cormac Buchanan banked more valuable Moto3 World Championship points at the iconic Le Mans circuit in France yesterday.
Buchanan, 18, finished 14th in the 20-lap showdown to add another two points and take his rookie season tally to 11.
It was a confidence boosting performance for the teenager and his DENSSI Racing BOE crew.
“For me the goal was just to finish the race and see the chequered flag, ideally in a points position,” Buchanan said.
“Overall, it was a great weekend for me. After having crashes in the last two races we lost all of our momentum and, honestly, a little bit of confidence so this result helps build that up again for the coming races.
“It’s a base that we can build on now and it’s a great result considering our qualifying position of P19. It’s a step forward with more points.
“I’m now looking forward to the next round at Silverstone where we will focus on putting another brick in place on this foundation we’re creating.”
Adding Le Mans’ unpredictable weather into the equation, there was an air of uncertainty right up until riders made their way to the grid and opted for slick tyres.
“We went out on the sighting lap and the track was more or less dry despite it raining quite heavily in the morning, although there were quite a few wet patches which made it a bit sketchy.” Buchanan said.
Continuing his impressive race starts, Buchanan gained six positions in the opening lap and stayed comfortably with the main group. In the latter stages of the race, pace improved in front and the group started to break apart.
“I get pretty good starts and this race was no different, going up six places and getting myself into a great position and battling in the group,” he said.
“It was a bit difficult because some hairy moments on the track made me lose touch with the group at times and I found myself yo-yoing back and forth to them. I had to work hard to get back within touching distance and then struck some late grip issues.
“I had to ride within myself. Not wanting to throw away a good result I had to play it safe a little bit to bring the bike home.”
The weekend started well with Buchanan showing a good pace in free practice before narrowly missing promotion to Q2 by a frustrating 0.015 seconds.
“The margins are so tight when it comes to qualifying but I can be satisfied we gave it a strong nudge despite working alone and in windy conditions.”
The next round of MotoGP is at Silverstone in the UK from May 23-25.
Photo credit: Dast Media
