Invercargill teenager Cormac Buchanan has continued to steal the show at the New Zealand Superbike Championship series.

The second round at the weekend saw Buchanan riding in both the Supersport 150 and 300 classes for the Yamaha Racing Development Team (YRD – looking to back up the trifecta of wins he notched up in both categories at the opening round the previous weekend.

In the first race, Buchanan and team-mate Harry Parker – racing on his hometown track – engaged in a tight tussle. Buchanan took the honours after Parker was forced to retire with a mechanical issue.

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Parker came out swinging in race two and beat Buchanan to the line by 0.1 seconds. 

“I was gutted to see my winning streak end but there’s no denying Harry was on form and determined on his home track. We pushed each other every moment of the race and it was awesome,” Buchanan said.

The battle continued in race three before Parker crashed out of contention, enabling Buchanan to dominate proceedings once again. 

“This class is hotly contested so every point is valuable and I’m stoked to be able to extend my overall tally before we head into the North Island rounds,” Buchanan said.

In the Supersport 150 ranks, he won both races and set a new lap record in the process. The third outing was cancelled due to an accident in the previous race holding up the proceedings beyond the cut-off time for racing to finish.

Yamaha Motor New Zealand’s Motorsport Manager Josh Coppins described Buchanan as “a star in the making” and said he enjoyed the inter-team rivalry between him and Parker.

“Cormac’s first loss in the 300 class was actually really good for him because he gets that racing experience before going overseas to race. He has had it so easy in the 150 class, which means he is really learning a lot on the YZF-R3. It’s great to see him and Harry battling it out,” Coppins said.