Southlander teenager grabs second successive podium
New Zealander Cormac Buchanan has made it back-to-back podiums with another impressive showing.
The 17-year-old finished third in Sunday’s FIM Junior GP race at Circuito Estoril in Portugal. In fast-changing conditions, the New Zealander opted to switch to slick tyres while on the grid and his experienced AGR crew quickly delivered.
Scorching off the line, Buchanan reinforced it was the right decision by leading the first six laps of the shortened 10-lap stanza. Forced to avoid a crash in the lead group of four riders, the Kiwi battled to the line, narrowly missing out on second by just 0.04 seconds. “It was a really good race for me. We went with the slicks last minute and it was still quite a wet track so the priority for me was to come home with some points. Third place is a solid result,” he said.
Buchanan said there was still plenty to work on ahead of the next round but was pleased with the Portugal effort, having qualified on pole for the race.
“I think today the win was on the cards but there’s a few little things to improve and that comes with experience.
“Avoiding the crash detached me from the leader, so I think if that didn’t happen we could have been in for more, but third is still really good points for the championship and we keep focused on this.
“With such a cold track the tyres weren’t performing to their optimum and I still had the wet set-up, so in those circumstances you have to consolidate. Considering where we were on Friday with the big crash and injury, I’m really happy to get another podium.
Buchanan’s effort in Portugal backs up his performance a fortnight earlier in Italy where he claimed his first ever podium placing in the FIM Junior GP.
“My plan was always to get away fast and try to make the group as small as possible. I made a strong start and pushed really hard in the opening laps. It was really difficult because the conditions were changing all the time but it was good to lead the race, so this gives me really good confidence heading into Barcelona.”
The next round of racing is in Barcelona on May 19.