CHARLIE Nesbitt’s high hopes of a strong return to action in the Moto3 Junior World Championship went unrewarded at the latest round in Valencia.

The Swindon teenager was back in action after having to sit out the previous two races at Barcelona after injuring his left hand in an accident.

That problem also ruled him out of valuable test time at the Ricardo Tormo circuit prior to last weekend’s race in Valencia, although Nesbitt still remained positive.

In the first free practice session, Nesbitt didn’t suffer any major pain from his hand, but Monlau Engineering team opted against risking the injury for the afternoon session following a downpour of rain.

With rider and team on the back foot, the teenager had to use the first qualifying session to continue with bike set-up and posted the 24th fastest time on his Honda.

In the hotter conditions of the afternoon, it was harder for riders to improve on their times and Nesbitt finished ninth in the second qualifying session.

With the two qualifying session times combined, Nesbitt lined up 18th on the grid for the two races.

On the morning of the race, Nesbitt was feeling confident and in the warm-up session, he set a fantastic ninth fastest lap time, just over half a second behind the fastest rider Dennis Foggia.

However, race one didn’t last a lap when another rider collided with Nesbitt at the start.

Nesbitt managed to pick the bike up but the gear linkage had been broken in the crash, which meant his race was already over.

In the second race, Nesbitt was determined to put in a good showing and made a steady start and with seven laps gone, was running 18th.

He lost a position later on before more bad luck struck as fellow Brit Dan Jones high-sided coming out of the last corner in front of Nesbitt, who was just inches away from the back wheel and had nowhere to go. He rode into the unmanned motorcycle and was thrown from his machine.

Desperate to continue, Nesbitt picked his bike up and managed to remount, albeit in last place and 15 seconds behind the nearest competitor. He went on to cross the line 33rd having amazingly caught and overtaken two other riders.

Nesbitt’s next race is at Estoril, Portugal on July 23.