FOLLOWING his Hel Performance Motostar British Championship title wining season, Charlie Nesbitt competed in the final two races of the Moto3 Junior World Championship in Valencia.

The Moto3 JWC is one of the best shop windows for riders looking to make the move to a MotoGP paddock in the future.

The Swindon teenager was riding for a new team, on different tyres and on a circuit he had never ridden before but he was mentored over the weekend by British MotoGP ace Scott Redding.

In the first qualifying session, Nesbitt managed a lap time of 1 minute 40.885 seconds, which placed him ninth on the time sheet and less than 1.2 seconds from the eventual championship winner Lorenzo Dalla Porta.

In session two, Nesbitt was unable to beat his previous time, placing him in 18th for the two races on Sunday.

As race one got underway, championship leader Dalla Porta’s bike caught fire on the start line and had to be quickly removed from the circuit.

After a short delay, racing got back underway and Nesbitt quickly moved up to 17th.

Mid-way through the race, Nesbitt was battling hard with Stefano Nepa and Vicente Perez before crossing the line in 11th to claim five points in his first Moto3 JWC race.

In the second race, Nesbitt lost a place early on in the frantic exchanges of the opening laps.

By the end of the fourth lap, he had recovered the position and was then second in a large group battling for most of the race.

By the halfway stage, Nesbitt had fought his way to 16th place.

Nesbitt said: “I would like to thank Scott (Redding) and Michael (Bartholemy) for giving me this opportunity with Monlau, it was such an amazing experience.

“Overall, I am really happy with my debut in the CEV but a bit disappointed in my position in the second race.”