New Zealand motorcycle racer Cormac Buchanan. Photo: supplied / Manu Tormo
Teenage Southland motorcyclist Cormac Buchanan has had to grow up quickly over the last couple of years and even more responsibility will fall on his young shoulders in 2025.
The 18-year-old will become the first fulltime New Zealander rider in MotoGP since Simon Crafar in 1999.
He has been racing in Europe for the last three years in junior competitions and has now signed with the Spanish Boe Motorsports team for the 2025 Moto3 Championship.
Buchanan had either his mum or dad with him in Europe the last couple of years, but in 2025 he'll be on his own for the first time. That forced him to get his drivers licence a month ago.
"I've finally got my license so I don't need to be chauffeured around," Buchanan told RNZ.
"I was probably more nervous for the test than I was lining up on the race grid... it was pretty nerve-racking but delighted to be able to drive myself now."
Not that he'll probably be on his own too much next year. He will be living with a couple of other riders at his base in Barcelona and will be away for most of the season with the 22 round championship raced in 18 different countries.
The young man from Invercargill has been on motorbikes most of his life thanks to his father Stacey, who also raced.
Cormac made the shift from dirt bikes to the road at the age of 12. He was too young to compete in New Zealand so headed to Australia to race at Phillip Island. It was there that he got hooked.
Southland motorcyclist Cormac Buchanan competing in Europe, 2024. Photo: supplied / Manu Tormo
From 2021 to 2023 he raced in the Red Bull Rookies Cup and in 2023-24 competed in the Junior GP World Championship. This year he finished on the podium three times and finished fifth overall.
Those results meant he could go into negotiation with Moto3 teams for a 2025 ride with confidence.
However the competition for places on the first tier of world championship racing is intense.
"Results are the most important thing. Financially it's difficult as you have to pay a contract fee and it's very rarely that the first year you'll get a free ride.
"Thankfully my results this year were really good and that made it a lot easier."
He now has a deal with Boe Motorsports to ride a KTM 250. Spaniard David Munoz finished fifth riding for the team in Moto3 in 2024 with the team sixth in the teams' standings.
Moto3 is the smallest class in the motorbike world championship, powered by 250cc single-cylinder engines.
It is a breeding ground for the top riders with the likes of Marc Marquez, Maverick Vinales, Joan Mir and Jorge Martin all winning Moto3 world titles on their way to MotoGP stardom.
"It's the next step in my career and where you have to be to to be a world champion," Buchanan said.
"This last season proved that we can be up there.
"I wouldn't say this is a dream come true because the dream is to become a MotoGP world champion and so this is a step closer to that dream."
Motorcycle racers are generally small, Buchanan is 173cm tall and his racing weight is 58kg. He compares himself to a jockey.
"It's all about trying to be as light as possible, being strong and also having good endurance.
"The cardiovascular fitness is really important on those bikes because of the heat, so it's a fine balance between being light but strong."
He had a couple of weeks off after his 2024 season, but is back into weight and cardio training and will allow himself an indulgence on Christmas day.
"I can't resist Nan's pavlova, but I need to be mindful, so I'll just have to go for a bike ride later in the day."
New Zealand's Simon Crafar during the 1998 Australian motorcycle Grand Prix held at Phillip Island. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Buchanan will head back to Europe in mid-January with pre-season testing in Portugal and Spain in February, while the season starts in Thailand on 2 March.
One of his priorities next season is to make sure everyone knows he's from New Zealand.
"The Australian flag has been flown for me before so I now make sure to check that when I podium that the New Zealand flag is flown.... it peeves me off that people think I'm Australian."
Buchanan never forgets about the people that have helped to get to where he is now.
"I think that the people it mattered most to had patience in me.
"My first year in Europe was really bad, finishing last in almost every race, but in this last season we were challenging for race wins.
"They gave me the environment to improve and my parents have sacrificed so much but we've always had a goal and they've been just as driven as me to try and get there."
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