From Invercargill to the international MotoGP circuit, Southland motorcycle racer Cormac Buchanan has travelled a remarkable distance in a few short years. Last week, an unexpected spell back home gave the SIT-sponsored rider the opportunity to make a different kind of connection with his hometown.
Cormac Buchanan swapped the international motorcycle racing circuit for Southern Institute of Technology’s Invercargill campus last Thursday, October 15, spending time with students, touring facilities and sharing some of the experiences that have taken him from Southland to the world stage.
The young racer is sponsored by SIT and SIT International this season and it was his first opportunity to really explore the campus and meet the people studying there.
Other than one previous visit for his sister’s graduation, Cormac said it was “the first real time” he had been on the Invercargill campus.
His visit took in the student lounge, Human Performance Centre, automotive and mechanical engineering facilities and the new nursing suite. At the School of Sport and Exercise he met Head of School Duncan McKenzie, while in Automotive he caught up with Academic Lead Russell Finlay.
Students gathered for photos and later had the opportunity to put their questions to Cormac in a Q&A session.
It made for an easy connection between a professional racer accustomed to world-class machinery and students developing their own technical skills. “A lot of them wanted to know more about the engineering … in terms of the actual racing,” Cormac said.
One particularly satisfying aspect of the visit was seeing how practical the learning at SIT was. “One of the cool things, it seems very hands-on. For me, I think that’s very, very important. It helps keep people engaged.”
And Cormac could easily imagine today’s SIT students taking those skills far beyond Southland. “Maybe one day one of them will be working in the World Championship on the bikes that I’m racing at the moment.”
He added the mechanics working on his own race bikes would also have begun by learning their craft at a polytechnic somewhere in the world. “I think it’s good to see … the roots and where it all begins. At the end of the day, there are kids that like motorbikes and vehicles and stuff, and then it can transform into something bigger than that for sure.”
An unexpected return home
The campus visit came about during an unplanned stint at home after a crash in Europe brought Cormac back to Invercargill for rehabilitation.
“I had a crash around seven weeks ago in Spain and came home to do some rehab and try to get back to full fitness here in Invercargill.”
And his recovery has progressed faster than he initially expected; being surrounded by family and friends has helped. “Every day it’s feeling a little bit better, making those small little steps back to full fitness,” he said.
“It’s been really good to also have been at a home environment while I’m here, just with Mum and Dad and all my friends and stuff. I think that makes it a lot easier.”
That made Cormac’s stop at SIT’s sport and exercise facilities particularly timely. He was especially interested in the rehabilitation equipment he saw there, including the zero-gravity technology, and he scored an open invitation to return and try out the equipment whenever he has a gap in his schedule.
“For me as an athlete, that’s something that I like to see … being an athlete and training all the time, and especially an athlete that’s going through a rehab, those resources are really beneficial.”
Southland to the world
Cormac’s international racing career began remarkably early. In 2019, aged just 12, he headed overseas because he was too young to race in New Zealand.
“I know 12 doesn’t sound very old, but I was an extremely late starter in the sport. The average age that they start in Europe, which is the main sort of hub for the sport, would be four to five years old.”
Motorcycling was already in Cormac’s blood. “Dad, he used to race motorbikes, and his father raced jet boats, so I guess there’s always been an element of racing in my genes.”
But it was watching MotoGP while on a family holiday in Australia in 2016 that crystallised his ambition. “I saw MotoGP for the first time, and it just blew me away and I said, ‘That’s what I want to be doing.’
“Now, what would be nine years later, I was racing in MotoGP itself, so it was pretty cool.”
Cormac’s life today is certainly international. He describes the season stretching from February to November with the off-season running from December till mid-January. “For us, our season is very, very busy … it’s pretty full-on. It’s 22 races and 18 different countries, so it makes for quite a hectic schedule.”
“It’s a lot of travelling, a lot of airports, a lot of flights; last year it was around 200,000 kilometres in the cabin of a plane so, it's not as luxurious as people think, but it's part of the job.”
Cormac says from a rider’s point of view Spain is probably where MotoGP is the biggest sport. “… it's sort of like what rugby is for us,” but adds, “then in terms of the fans and audience I’d say the Asian countries are the ones that get the biggest races (Indonesia, Japan and Thailand). They're pretty crazy; the fans they're awesome and very welcoming to the country … it's very special to see how they treat us and make you feel at home.”
“There are so many millions of people that are viewing it and there are hundreds of thousands of people there watching it live as well … you sort of feel like a gladiator in an arena.”
Despite the kilometres travelled and the huge audiences, for Cormac there is little doubt about where home is. “You’re representing Southland or Invercargill on the world stage. That’s always special.”
“I’m a New Zealander but, above all, I’m a Southlander.”
SIT Events and Marketing Support Officer Grace Doherty, who hosted Cormac’s campus tour, saw first-hand how positively students responded to the “very impressive” Southland racer.
Students were keen to meet and pose for photos, something Cormac willingly embraced, before the conversation continued with a Q&A session.
“He was super humble about his achievements,” Miss Doherty said. “There was a real sense of Southland pride” as he talked with students and staff.
Cormac also found something familiar in SIT’s international mix of students. As someone whose career takes him around the world, he said he hadn’t expected to encounter so many international students on an Invercargill campus.
“It’s really cool to see all the international students and people from all over the world come to Invercargill to choose their studies.”
For Cormac, racing is more than the career he has chosen to pursue.
“It’s what I think about every day when I wake up and when I go to sleep,” he said.
“It’s certainly something that is more than just a job for me. It’s my life.”
After several weeks recuperating at home, that life is about to become international again as Cormac heads back to the circuit to complete the final stages of his 2026 racing season, which finishes in November.
He leaves Invercargill carrying his Southland identity with him, but this time with a few more local supporters following his progress from the SIT campus.
“I think probably [what I love most about the racing] is just the feeling it gives you; racing a motorbike seems pretty scary, but above that there’s nothing more satisfying than when every factor – the bike, the track, the conditions and your own performance – unites to produce the ultimate lap.”