- Southland’s Cormac Buchanan endures a difficult Moto3 round in Malaysia after a qualifying crash and early race exit.
- The event was overshadowed by a serious sighting-lap crash involving Moto3 Champion Jose Antonio Rueda and Noah Dettwiler.
- Buchanan aims to regroup ahead of the next round in Portugal after a standout 11th-place finish in Australia the previous week.
New Zealand Moto3 rider Cormac Buchanan endured one of the toughest weekends of his 2025 campaign at the Malaysian Grand Prix, battling extreme heat, tough conditions, and the emotional fallout from a horrific pre-race crash that shocked the paddock.
The 19-year-old Southlander’s weekend started on the back foot after a qualifying disaster on Saturday, when he crashed on his opening flying lap and was unable to set a competitive time. It left him mired near the back of the grid for Sunday’s race at the Sepang International Circuit.
But qualifying woes would soon become the least of anyone’s concerns.
Moments before the race began, a terrifying collision on the sighting lap between newly crowned Moto3 World Champion Jose Antonio Rueda (Spain) and Switzerland’s Noah Dettwiler brought proceedings to a halt. Both riders were airlifted to hospital, with Dettwiler reportedly in a critical condition following multiple surgeries, while Rueda suffered a fractured hand and concussion.
“Everything else seems irrelevant right now as nothing compares to the battle Noah is facing,” Buchanan said afterward. “Like the entire MotoGP community, my thoughts are with both him and Jose and their families. Motorcycle racing is dangerous and we know the risks, but you never want to see something like this happen.”
After a delay of nearly two hours and a reduction of race distance to ten laps, conditions were brutally hot and energy-sapping. Buchanan pushed hard to salvage points, but his race ended early after a front-end tuck on lap three.
“It was probably the most difficult weekend of 2025,” he admitted. “Nothing seemed to click — I didn’t feel like my usual self on track and didn’t ride the way I can. My apologies to the team because this result isn’t reflective of what we’re capable of.”
The result was a sharp contrast to Buchanan’s strong performance a week earlier at Phillip Island, where he scored a season-best 11th place in front of an enthusiastic home crowd of Australasian fans.
“I was determined to keep the momentum going after Australia, but Malaysia was a real challenge. It feels like a rollercoaster sometimes, but I’ve got a great team around me and we’ll regroup. Now it’s about resetting, finding that pace again, and heading to Portimão motivated to turn things around.”
Buchanan will now return to Spain to prepare for the next stop on the Moto3 calendar — the Qatar Airways Grand Prix of Portugal, taking place at the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve from November 7–9.
