orbit during the Brazilian round. While his crash possibly should have been considered a flight, the landing was always going to hurt. Amazingly, the gritty Southlander picked himself up and defied the odds by lining up for the race at very next round at COTA in the USA. The crash at the Brazilian round was due to a previous incident where gravel was dragged onto the track, calling an early end to his qualifying. Cormac’ s pace was right at the pointy end, so it was a tough pill to swallow racing hurt. Still, he was up there until a red flag called for a restarted race of five laps – a full-on sprint. Despite his best efforts, the pain and difficulty involved just breathing while in a full race crouch did take the shine off his pace. In what he described as the toughest race of his life, he got the job done. What Buchanan has done of late is show he can foot it with the top riders in the dry as well as his proven skills in the wet. So, despite

the setback, it is a confident Kiwi heading into the rest of the season and his team have huge faith in his work ethic and talent, so make sure you watch the next round. Watching the video of his spectacular dismount meant you knew he was hurting and the fact that he still showed the pace to scrap it out with the best of the best was jaw dropping to see. Sure, not the result he wanted and not what his pace pre-crash suggested but wow, what an effort. Take a bow that man. Suffering from back and rib pain and peering through a black eye, Buchanan has established himself as one tough unit as well as fast. That commitment didn’ t go unnoticed by the commentators, fans or competitors, who all want to see the fast Kiwi back and fighting fit in three weeks time. Meanwhile, some well-earned recovery time back at his Barcelona base beckons. And in typical Cormac Buchanan style, he only focuses on the positives and the drive to improve. Bring on Jerez on April 24-26.

KIWI RIDER 13