Bad luck mars Jesseman comeback.

Bad luck hindered 125 East Supercross Champion Branden Jesseman's return to the 2003 AMA Motocross Championship at Buchanan, Michigan on Sunday.

The race was Jesseman's first in over two months since sustaining a complete ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) ligament tear of his left thumb.

"I've been off for a few months and I'm still getting comfortable on the bike. It was supposed to take a full three months for me to recover from my injury, so I'm lucky to be ahead of schedule," said the Suzuki rider. "I've been practicing a lot on my track at home, but race pace is always different and more intense. I'd be lying if I said I was happy with my results because I'm not. I want to win races. My fitness is there because I've kept up my training, but I just need some more time racing on the bike."

The 21-year-old Pennsylvanian's weekend began well with an easy win in his Saturday afternoon qualifier where he had over a 30-second lead on second place. finished second in his Sunday morning qualifier, but bad luck struck in the first moto of the main event: He got an eighth place start and charged through the pack, eventually making it to fourth place. It was at that point that the bad luck began.

"I had a hard time seeing out there and I lost my goggles. Then I crashed. To make matters worse, I got a flat tyre," he sighed.

The second moto passed without incident and Branden diligently worked his way up to fifth place, where he ultimately finished, for eighth overall.

"It feels great to be back on my RM 125 after being off for a few races, and I just need to get my race pace going again; once I do, I think I can run up front," said Jesseman.

Jesseman's next race is on July 20th in Unadilla Valley Sports Center in New Berlin, New York.