Photo: TCR World Tour

Josh Buchan withstands hard pressure to win Macau Guia finale

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HMO Customer Racing driver Josh Buchan did not crack under pressure to claim a lights-to-flag victory in the final, reversed-grid FIA TCR World Tour race of the season finale weekend at the Guia street circuit in Macau.

Buchan (Hyundai) was slow off the blocks, with Ma Qing Hua (Lynk & Co) going side-by-side with him into the first sequence of corners. The Australian driver maintained the inside racing line to keep ahead and enabled Ma’s Cyan Racing team-mate Santiago Urrutia to snatch second.

Mikel Azcona also managed to take third from the Chinese driver on the outside at Lisboa, with the Hondas of Esteban Guerrieri and Ignacio Montenegro close behind in fifth and sixth place.

Pepe Oriola (Honda) of GOAT Racing retired to the pits at the end of the first lap.

Thed Björk was on the move in the first part of the race and overtook Montenegro for sixth place on lap three.

Cupra driver Aurélien Comte went straight at Lisboa on lap five, with the Frenchman rejoining under his own power further down the field.

Buchan made a small mistake on lap seven which enabled Urrutia to challenge him for the lead at the exit of Lisboa. But Urrutia was instead challenged by Azcona and the two made contact, resulting in Urrutia pitting for repairs while Azcona dropped down to 13th.

Lynk & Co driver Ma took advantage of the situation to overtake both for second place and piled the pressure on Buchan.

Newly crowned champion Yann Ehrlacher and outgoing champion Norbert Michelisz came together at Lisboa on the last lap, with Ehrlacher having to reverse back out on track to rejoin back in eleventh place.

Ma tried hard to pass Buchan, but the Australian Hyundai driver won as the chequered flag fell ahead of Ma and Björk.

Montenegro overtook Guerrieri for fourth position during the final part of the race and the GOAT Racing duo was followed by Race 1 winner Néstor Girolami, Cupra driver Max Hart and Michelisz.

Ryan MacMillan finished ninth, with Lo Sze Ho completing the top ten.

Ehrlacher finished the 2025 FIA TCR World Tour season on top on 484 points, 24 points ahead of team-mate Björk while Guerrieri was a distant third, 99 points adrift.