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Chicken and rice.
No matter how many ways Cormac Buchanan cooks it in his Spanish apartment, it is still chicken and rice. A world championship racer’s diet.
It is the dietary challenge the 1.73m Moto3 racer puts himself through daily, always eyeing the scales to stay under his 58kg riding weight.
“It’s all about the carbs. We need to eat lots of carbohydrates,” he said from his parents’ home in Invercargill.
“But I can drink lots of coffee; that’s the best part of the diet.”
Buchanan’s other major challenge is staying race-fit, and that is why he is back home, undergoing injury rehabilitation.
By his own admission, he has faced the toughest year of his racing career.
“It started so well in Brazil. I was riding the best of my career, up at the podium end of the field in practice and qualifying … until someone sprayed gravel on the track and down I went.”
Buchanan fractured three vertebrae in his back, tore an ACL and “scarred my arse”.
It got worse a week later in the United States when he high-sided in FP2.
“I was riding like a statue, but trying to push it and unable to react quickly enough when the bike stepped out.
“In hindsight, I shouldn’t have raced in Brazil and the US. My body held me back.
“Those injuries and lack of recovery time set me back for so much of the season.”
Buchanan said it was not until round 12 of the championship, in Germany — more than halfway through the championship calendar — that he “finally felt good”.
“It was my best weekend of the season and set me up for the summer break, where I could concentrate on full recovery.
“Coming back after the break, the British Grand Prix was my best qualifying of the year and we were well in the hunt until I had a mechanical issue in the race.”
However, Buchanan’s new-found good fortune ended with a serious crash in Spain, at Aragon.
“When we analysed the data, it came down to just half a second — that was the only difference between a great race and crashing.
“I knew my pace was strong and good certainly enough to battle in the group for a top five place.”
Reality hit home in hospital where an initial diagnosis of a clean tibia break was revealed to be far more serious.
The ankle had fragmented, resulting in surgeons fitting two plates “and lots of screws”.
What followed was a dark period in Buchanan’s life.
“My team has been really good all year and don’t put pressure on me. They know what I’m capable of and have always been up front about their belief in me. There’s so many factors people don’t see from the outside.
“The reinforcement of that belief was good to hear again after the surgery when I was looking for positive things.
“But it was difficult being by myself in the apartment, unable to move, unable to leave, especially when the team moved on to the next GP.
“It was hard not having mum and dad or anyone there to help me.
“I could talk to them by phone and friends were keeping in touch, but there were some dark nights.
“I was determined I wasn’t going to give up. It tested me.
“I was in the form of my career and now I was all alone and facing a long rehabilitation.”
At that point, Buchanan decided to return to Invercargill.
He realised he had more rehab options at home, and had been working with an “incredible team” at Academy Southland.
“I’ve made great progress already. I’m walking again and back in the gym.”
Buchanan aims to return to the Moto3 World Championship grid at Phillip Island, in Australia, at the end of October.
“I have no expectations. I may not be 100% fit but I’ll be close to where I was.
“I perhaps could have come back earlier in Indonesia, but the end of the season will be challenging enough with Malaysia, Qatar, Portugal and Spain coming in quick succession after Australia.”
Although unable to confirm plans for 2027, Buchanan hinted at another season in Moto3.
“Even with the injury challenges I’ve faced, the lap times are faster and there’s been some really exciting progress this season so the team and I know what’s possible together.
“I hope to have some exciting news soon.”
Buchanan teased he was eyeing up some pre-Christmas outings in New Zealand.
“It looks like I could be flying straight back from Spain to the first round of the Suzuki Series at Taupo if everything aligns the way we’re hoping it will.” — NZ Superbike