With two rounds in quick succession, the two rounds closest to home were a mixed bag. Despite the weather throwing everything at the riders at Australia’ s Phillip Island, Buchanan took to it like a duck to water, or is that a Kiwi to heavy rain? Qualifying well at a track he’ d only been to once on a 150cc, Mac Attack was sawing chunks off his PB each time and qualified well. With race day dawning wet and 70km / h winds blasting through, it was a crazy race but Buchanan was right there. A fantastic save of a front-end slide, caught on his elbow, saved the day. It did drop him back into the jaws of the chasing group but smart racing saw him lead that group across the line in eleventh place and bank some points. It was great to see the Kiwification of his helmet care of SLGraphics and Kate Garnyk. Nice to see that Kiwi focused on what is ahead. Then it was off to the Malaysian round at the Petronas Grand Prix Of Malaysia, held at the Sepang International Circuit … It was a tough round. First there was the crash on his first flying lap, ending hopes of a good starting position. Then there was the terrible