Kiwi road racing news doesn ’ t get any bigger or better than this . The pride of Southland , Cormac Buchanan , will be contesting the Moto3 World Championship next year ! The last time a Kiwi , Simon Crafar , rolled onto the grid in GP racing was nearly a quarter of a century ago ( sorry Simon , didn ’ t mean to make you feel old …). Crafar , who will be Chairman of the FIM MotoGP Stewards Panel from next season , was pretty stoked to hear that Cormac was stepping up to the premier events . “ It ’ s wonderful for Cormac to reach his personal goal of becoming a full-time world championship rider , but it is also exciting news for us proud , sport loving Kiwis . Becoming a full time Grand Prix rider is a rare and special achievement . Cormac has dedicated most of his young life to achieving it and his family have sacrificed more than we will know , but this is only the beginning ,” he said . “ Making it to world championship is like getting selected for a national team . The hardest test starts now . The highs and lows of brutal competition over the next couple of years will forge Cormac into a new , tougher version of himself . Let ’ s all let him know that we are behind him .” Many Kiwis have already seen the pace that Buchanan has as he raced back home in the European off-season . Now we ’ ll be able to watch as he takes on the best in the world in the cut-and-thrust action that is Moto3 . So , what does it mean to the young Southern Man ? “ My goal for this year was to earn my place in the 2025 Moto3 World Championship and to be able to step up into those elite ranks with a team the calibre of BOE Motorsports is a great privilege ,” he said . “ It ’ s a crucial stage in my career and one step closer to my ultimate dream so I ’ m really excited to get 2025 underway . There are plenty of things I want to tick off as I learn in my rookie year but , most importantly , I want to make sure I ’ m constantly improving – it ’ s a big step up with lots of challenges like new tracks , a new bike , a new team . Those are all things I ’ m going to have to contend with so the focus will be on fighting for points consistently and making sure I continue to progress as a racer .”