The teenager produced his fastest laps in the dying stages of the 20-lap Moto3 race and was firmly in the fight for a top-10 finish before a serious four-rider crash brought out the red flag.
Placings were taken based on the previous lap, where Buchanan had crossed the line in 14th position.
‘‘You would have to say that’s the most consistent and best weekend of the season so far,’’ he said.
‘‘It’s the first points of the season, which is great, but it still leaves a lot to be desired.
‘‘I’m not happy with the result. It’s good to get points on the board but I want a lot more, especially with the pace I had in the latter part of the race.
‘‘It was just the first half which really cost me today so that’s what I’m going to work on, figuring out why I couldn’t get the medium tyre to work.’’
Balaton Park’s tight and twisty layout, combined with varying grip levels, added a challenging dynamic for racers across all three MotoGP classes.
Buchanan, riding for Code Motorsports, had his best qualifying of the season, starting the race in 14th spot.
‘‘I made an amazing start and went up to ninth and stayed around that top 10 for the first stages but I was just hanging on — I just couldn’t figure out the medium tyre,’’ he said.
‘‘From lap 13 onwards, I guess you could say it was ‘go’ time. On used rubber, I put on the pace I had been working on all weekend and focused on hauling in the gap in front which was three or four seconds.
‘‘It was a big task to do in just seven laps but I kept chipping away and actually did my best personal lap time on lap 17 of 19, so there was definitely no issue with the late-race pace.
‘‘I caught the group with two laps to go and I knew it was going to come down to the last lap because this track is difficult to pass and there was going to be chaos,’’ Buchanan said.
‘‘Going into the last lap ... the group bunched up a lot and I made several overtakes to be third in the group to sit in the top 10.
‘‘Then you turn the next corner and there’s a red flag so that obviously means it goes back to the lap before. Just one lap too late, so I had to settle for 14th.’’
Round nine of the championship is back at Brno, the Czech Republic. — Allied Media
