• Southland rider crashed early in qualifying and was unable to set a lap time
  • Race delayed after serious sighting lap crash involving two other Moto3 riders
  • Buchanan struggled in harsh heat and retired from the race on lap three

New Zealand Moto3 rider Cormac Buchanan endured a challenging weekend in Malaysia during the 20th round of the World Championship at Sepang International Circuit.

Saturday’s qualifying session proved costly for the Southland teenager, who crashed on his first flying lap and was unable to record a time that would have moved him up the starting grid.

Sunday’s race was thrown into disarray following a horrific collision on the sighting lap between newly-crowned Moto3 world champion Jose Antonio Rueda of Spain and Swiss rider Noah Dettwiler. Both were airlifted to hospital with serious injuries.

“Everything else seems irrelevant right now as nothing compares to the battle Noah is facing. Like the entire MotoGP paddock and racing community, my thoughts are with both him and Jose, and their families and teams, for a strong recovery,” Buchanan said.

“Motorcycle racing is dangerous and we know the risks but you never want to see an incident like this unfold.”

Following the crash, the start of the race was delayed by an hour and 40 minutes. The extreme heat and humidity added further difficulty, and race organisers shortened the event to 10 laps. Buchanan found it hard to build momentum and unfortunately retired from the race on lap three after losing the front.

“It was a really difficult and demanding weekend here in Malaysia, probably the most difficult of 2025. Nothing seemed to click and didn’t feel like my usual self on track and didn’t ride like how I can,” Buchanan said.

“My apologies to the team for the performance as this is clearly not what we are capable of.”

The result was a frustrating setback after Buchanan’s strong 11th place finish in Australia the previous week.

“I was determined to keep the momentum strong but the Malaysian round turned out to be very challenging. In moments like this it definitely feels like a rollercoaster, but I have a great team around me who will help me move forward.

“I will head back to Spain and use this next week to have a reset, and find out how we can get back to the same pace we showed one week ago.

“It’s Portimão up next, a place I really like so I head there with a lot of motivation to turn things around. We will do it.”

Buchanan now turns his focus to the Qatar Airways Grand Prix of Portugal, scheduled for November 7 to 9 at the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve.

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