The fifth and penultimate round of the New Zealand Superbike Championship (NZSBK) was held in conjunction with the Burt Munro Challenge.
Despite his youth, Altherm Yamaha Racing Development Team (YRDT) rider Buchanan is now a six-time New Zealand Superbike Championship title holder, winning the
2020 and 2021 NZSBK Supersport 150 titles, the NZSBK Supersport 300 title in 2021 and 2023 as well as the NZSBK Supersport 600 crown in 2023 and 2024.
He has also won the NZTT and NZGP titles in each class for the past four years.
Buchanan has surprised himself with his success.
"Entering the championship on a 150cc in 2020, I didn’t expect this. The fact I really wanted to win a NZSBK title at home has been a goal and this was the first time the dates have aligned to make it possible," he said.
While Buchanan knew it was mathematically achievable to become the back-to-back Supersport 600 champion going into the weekend, the first race on Saturday meant he had to work hard to make it a reality.
"Saturday was quite difficult, but I knew the plan was to take the points because we had a big championship lead to defend.
"Third place was quite good, but unfortunately a human error cost us a result and caused us to get disqualified with a transponder issue."
Fired up on Sunday, Buchanan headed on to the track and did what he does best — win.
"I knew what I had to do, which was to go out and win if I wanted the title to be finished at home, and that’s what we did.
"We raced two really good races. I led from the start and managed to gap away every lap. That was the perfect way to finish off the title chase," he says.
Buchanan described being able to back up his 2023 Supersport 600 championship win in 2024 as a team effort.
— Staff reporter
