Buchan beat Lynk & Co driver Ma Qinghua to the win by just a few car lengths in the 10-lap finale at the Guia Street Circuit. Thed Bjork was third in the other 03 TCR.
From pole position, Buchan led the field and won the drag race to the high-risk Mandarin kink and the 90-degree Lisboa corner.
On the tight and twisty streets, Buchan put on a defensive masterclass to clinch the win after 10 enthralling laps battling Qinghua while Bjork finished 2.405s off the lead.
Post-rac,e Buchan thanked his team, his partner, and “phone-a-friend” coach and touring car legend Rob Huff, who offered the Australian guidance over the weekend.
“Oh my god. It’s the best moment of my career. It’ll be hard to top this one,” said Buchan.
“I need to thank my team, I need to thank Aaron (Grech) I need to thank Barry (Morcom) from HMO who put me in the seat in ‘21.
“Hyundai Australia for backing me to this point. Everyone in the crew. I can’t name everyone because there are too many.
“Every single crew member was in that dungeon down stairs for a week and pushed on through.
“To everyone who has helped me in my career, thank you kindly. It’s a good day in sport.”
Buchan began the year with plans to compete in the TCR Australia Series, which was initially planned for five rounds.
After the TCR Australia Series effectively fell over, Buchan’s season was reduced to just three TCR events across The Bend in Australia, Inje Speedium in Korea, and the Guia Street Circuit in Macau.
He made a handful of other outings in GT World Challenge Australia and GT4 Australia.
Buchan paid tribute to HMO Customer Racing team manager Aaron Grech, who pitched the TCR World Tour idea after the TCR Australia Series fell flat.
“At the start of the year, I was going to make heaps of money, race heaps of cars, it was great, and then my programs kept getting cut,” said Buchan.
“Luckily, Aaron (Grech), the guru, came up with the crazy idea to do TCR World Tour.
“We got smoked at the first round at Tailem Bend, our home track. We looked pretty stupid.
“We genuinely turned the car on its head between rounds for Korea, did the business there.
“To perform here, I had a solid plan of what I wanted to do, take it easy, build – crawl, walk, then run.
“I still didn’t get Mandarin right all weekend. I sucked through there, my god.
“I feel like I executed. The only time I hit the fence was on the in-lap. I was looking down, going nuts. Saw a corner and then had to rip the handbrake and smashed into the fence.”
With no plans to return to the TCR Australia Series next year, it could prove to be his last win in the touring car category – unless other opportunities come knocking.
“I’ll have to speak to Hyundai and see if they’d like me back,” said Buchan.
“I have no further TCR deal at this point. I’d love to continue on with Hyundai. It’s been a family of mine for 10 years. It’s been a family for racing for five.
“I’ll still be racing next year, irrespective – but if there’s a TCR opportunity for me in the World Tour, whatever it may be, then I feel like I would do a job.”
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