Subscribe to Newsletter

Advertisements

Red Flag Denies Cormac Buchanan Moto3 Points at Indonesian GP

  • Kiwi Moto3 rider Cormac Buchanan narrowly missed out on championship points after a red flag ended the Indonesian GP two laps early.
  • Buchanan had fought his way from P23 to P14 before the race stoppage reverted results to the previous lap, officially placing him 16th.
  • Despite frustration over the lost opportunity, Buchanan remains optimistic heading into the Australian GP at Phillip Island on October 17–19.

Red flag denies Buchanan points opportunity

A red flag with two laps to go denied New Zealand motorcycle racer Cormac Buchanan the chance of banking vital points at the Pertamina Grand Prix of Indonesia yesterday.

Round 18 of the Moto3 World Championship saw the Southlander finish 16th, just 0.2 seconds from the points at the Mandalika International Circuit on the island of Lombok.

After a “messy” qualifying left him starting from P23, Buchanan’s determination was obvious from the outset and a strong race ensued battling for points. However, an incident which caused David Munoz to crash heavily brought out the red flag with just two laps remaining. 

“I got a great start from P23 and was up to P18 on the first lap. I felt I could keep moving forward but the group I was in kept making unnecessary battles,” Buchanan said.

“I made a big effort to stay at the front of the group which was a strong point I’m happy about as it’s something I’ve struggled with at times. 

Advertisements

“I arrived to the last laps fighting for 14th place. I got really unlucky with the red flag because that last sector I fell briefly back to 16th and by the end of the first sector I was back up into 14th again. Unfortunately, with a red flag it goes back to the last completed lap, not the last completed sector. Rightly I should have been 14th but with the red flag and the way the rule book is written I was classified as 16th

“It’s really frustrating to miss out on points because I think we deserve them for the performance and the comeback we did. From 23rd to 14th that’s nine places and I‘m just really gutted to miss the points again by nothing you know.”

Buchanan’s debut at the Asian circuit was a mixed bag of emotions.

“It was definitely one of the more difficult weekends. Friday morning was not so bad – first time at this circuit and I just used the time to get up to speed and learn the track and to be honest I was pretty happy with how it felt,” he said.

“So, in practice I felt we had a real chance to be in that top 14 and go directly to Q2 – and that was my mistake. I was probably too eager and on lap two I had a big high-side which complicated the rest of the session for me. After that it was just a case of doing the laps and trying to take as much learning as I could. 

“It was a mistake I can’t afford to make because we missed a lot of track time at a circuit I’d never seen before.

“I came into Saturday’s free practice with the goal of getting as many laps as possible on the board and immediately improved by 1.2 seconds and only a second from the lap record. We should have done that on the Friday afternoon and that would have set us up well. It was good to get up to speed.

“In Q1 I thought I could do a really good job of it. I did make a mistake on the out lap by not positioning myself right and that had a big impact as I couldn’t spin a good lap – not even a representative lap to be honest. It was incredibly frustrating because definitely we had the pace to be in the Q2. On my fast lap I was having to overtake people and it was just a big mess which left me with a lot of work to do in the race. I knew we could fight back into the points and I was certainly not demotivated.” 

Buchanan will spend the next week at home in Invercargill before heading to the AustralianGP at Phillip Island from October 17-19. 

“For Australia, we know we can do a really good job there. It’s not quite the home GP but it’s close enough to New Zealand. I know what I need to improve and that’s what my focus is for Australia.”

Share the Post:

Related Posts

Advertisements
Transalp Genuine Accessories Tour Pack_BRM 300 x 250
Ride Into Spring Royal Enfield Sale

Subscribe to BRM’s Newsletter

Join our mailing list to receive the latest news, reviews, tests and reports direct to your inbox.

PLUS, you’ll be in to WIN an OXFORD MINT CLEANING SET
worth over $300!