Hucknall racer Ruben Hage narrowly misses out on podium finishes at Pembrey

Hucknall's teenage racing sensation, Ruben Hage, suffered a mixed weekend in the latest round of the Junior Saloon Car Championship at Pembrey in South Wales.

Ruben began the weekend well with an extremely strong qualifying session in which he managed to put himself on the front row of the grid for the opening race by being second fastest; narrowly missing out on pole position to runaway championship leader Charlie Hand.

As well as this, he managed to secure third place on the grid for the other two races of the triple header in a remarkably consistent session.

This was made even more impressive by the fact that Ruben had missed the championship's midseason test at the circuit in August due to a family holiday.

Speaking exclusively to Hucknall Nub News, he said: "I was really happy walking away from quali especially because the lap time I got to put me p2 for race one was I think the last lap of the session. I managed to just find a few little tenths here and there, managed to all hook up together and put in a good lap and put us in a really good spot for races one, two and three.

"It gives you quite a bit of confidence going into the race as well knowing you've got the pace to be up there.

"I think I was the only one on the grid who had no previous experience going round there but I got up to speed with it pretty quickly, it's not the most complex of tracks but there's a lot of time to be found in areas that aren't particularly obvious; there's a good mixture of corners.

"The surface is really unique as well, it's really abrasive on the tyres which adds another feature when you're trying to set a good quali lap or stay consistent because you've got to be cautious of the tyres overheating."

The first race saw Hage get a good getaway and hold a relatively comfortable second position behind Hand, for much of the race. However, he was reeled in late on and lost out in a three way tussle on the penultimate turn of the final lap, meaning he crossed the line in fourth and narrowly missed out on a podium.

In the second race, Hage could not repeat his good start and tumbled down to seventh after the opening lap. However, he showed great determination and resolve to quickly battle his way back into fourth. Whilst battling for a podium place the safety car was deployed, neutralising the race and then another incident straight after the restart saw the race red flagged, meaning Ruben once again had to settle for fourth.

The final race saw the weekend end in a disappointing fashion as a mechanical issue with the car saw Hage down on power and lapping 15 seconds per lap slower than the leaders meaning he limped home in 25th place.

Of the weekend he said: "I'm not particularly happy, walking away from it. In race one, I should have really got second but just lacked a bit of pace at the end of the race and didn't manage to hold them off in time. Race two, was sort of similar but I got a poor start, and the safety car came out just as I was trying to take podium positions back. Race three was a disastrous end to the weekend, basically put our championship hopes down the drain pretty much; not every race goes your way, so you have to take it on the chin."

Ruben still sits in fourth place in the championship with two rounds remaining. Next up will be a visit to his home circuit of Donington Park on Saturday 23 October and Sunday 24 October.