The Southland teenager described his 2025 season as "a rollercoaster” following Monday’s final race in Valencia, where he battled to make an impact and finished 24th.
"I expected highs and lows as we navigated this new championship against the best in the world," Buchanan said.
‘‘Naturally, I would have liked a few less of the lows, but I accept those are what you learn the most from and will ultimately build me into a stronger racer."
Buchanan finished the season in 20th place in a 40-rider field.
He had three top-10 finishes, earned points in nine races and made the second stage of qualifying at several events.
‘‘For me, I will take a lot of positives out of this year," Buchanan said.
‘‘We’ve been in the fight with the leaders in a number of races and even for podiums at some point.
"It’s been a really solid rookie season — one where I’ve learned a lot of lessons — and I aim to build on those for next year to make another step forward in 2026."
"The knee injury at Brno in July really had an impact on my momentum and now these last few races have been really difficult — not sure why, so we will have to look into that as part of our season debrief.
"Overall, it’s been an incredible year — one of the best in my life — and I’m looking forward to making next year even better.”
Valencia proved to be a disappointing end as Buchanan continued to battle through a slump in form.
"It was not the weekend we were hoping to end the season on. We tried to have good motivation, and with it being the finale, you want to end on a high.
"FP1, there was oil on the track and, with the bad luck I’ve been having lately, I hit that and crashed, injuring myself pretty badly.
‘‘The bike came and hit me in the back, so obviously that wasn’t an ideal start as I missed all the laps and then you’re automatically on the back foot being a session behind.
"Friday afternoon, we made a solid step just trying to get the laps under our belt. But Saturday and, to be honest, even Sunday was just so difficult. I just lacked that good feeling on the bike.
‘‘It’s so frustrating because at times this year we’ve been really fast, but on weekends like this we’re struggling so much.
"It was a tough one, but I won’t let it take away from the season I’ve had.” — Allied Media
