Hucknall teenager, Ruben Hage, clinches the first circuit racing victory of his career at Brands Hatch

Hucknall's teenage racing sensation, Ruben Hage claimed his first ever circuit win at Brands Hatch last weekend in the Junior Saloon Car Championship.

The 16-year-old produced a strong performance in mixed weather conditions at the Kent circuit to beat the top two drivers in the championship in a captivating three-way duel.

Qualifying hinted at the closeness of the field as less than a second covered the top 16 drivers in what was a championship record 28 car entry.

Hage planted his Citroen Saxo VTR 1600 third on the grid, an agonising 0.051 seconds shy of pole sitter Harvey Caton with championship leader Charlie Hand separating the pair.

As the lights went out Hage made the best start of the frontrunners but the tight nature of the 2x2 grid meant there was no space for him to use his momentum. As a result, he was forced to sit in their wheel tracks as the pack roared into the first corner, Paddock Hill Bend, for the first time.

At the end of the first lap, a slide from race leader Caton at Clearways saw Hand and Hage move through and demote him to third.

Hage then produced some good defensive driving to hold a frustrated Caton at bay before the safety car was deployed to allow a stricken car to be removed from the grass on the outside of Cooper Straight. This bunched the field up and allowed Hage and Caton to get back on to the back of Charlie Hand who had just started to make a slight break away from them.

When racing resumed, the top three once again eased away from the rest of the pack and Caton began to pressurise Hand for the lead with Hage shadowing them in third.

With less than three minutes of the 15 minute race remaining, rain began to fall, making things even more difficult for the young drivers who were all running on slick tyres.

With just over a minute on the clock, Caton got a good run along the start/finish straight and went to the outside at Paddock Hill Bend. Hage got a great run out of Paddock Hill and with Hand defending hard from Caton on his outside, he left a small gap on the inside at the next corner, Druids. In an inspired move, Hage went for the gap up the inside and the cars ran three abreast into the corner. The youngsters did brilliantly to avoid major contact and as they came out of the corner it was Hage who had the race lead. Caton once again scythed down the inside of Hand at Graham Hill Bend to take second and set off in pursuit of Hage.

As the drivers started their final lap, Caton got a superior run out of Clearways and swept round the outside of Hage before they reached Paddock Hill Bend and it looked as if Hage's chances of a maiden victory had disappeared.

However, the Westbourne Motorsport driver didn't give up and followed Caton closely through the next few corners. As they reached Clearways for the final time, both drivers were caught out by the wet conditions and went across the grass.

Hage took a more pragmatic approach and eased off to minimise his time off the circuit which saw him correct the car startlingly quickly and make the apex of the corner. Caton, on the other hand had a massive slide and did well not to end up in the gravel. This left the door open on the inside for Hage and without hesitation he eased up the inside. Caton tried to stay with him but ultimately had to settle for second as just 0.176 seconds separated the pair as they took the flag in what was a thrilling finish. Hand took third to maintain his championship lead but he is now only 29 points ahead of Hage, who sits third in the standings, with 25 available for a win, and four rounds remaining.

Hage's delight when he crossed the line was clear to see. On the onboard camera he can be seen punching the air multiple times and yelling 'come on.'

Speaking exclusively to Hucknall Nub News about his first circuit racing victory, he said: "It's been a long time coming, almost three years in the championship, been up at the sharp end since basically after the first couple of races so I've just been chipping away, trying to get more and more podiums and been waiting for the win."

On the move at Druids that initially put him into the lead, he said: "Brands Hatch is a really difficult place to overtake and the best corner to do it is at Druids. So I thought if they go two wide into Paddock Hill again and I can carry a little bit more speed at the apex and try and get a good run up the hill, I should be able to squeeze through up into Druids; and if you're up the inside there you're pretty sure to make it stick."

It was a difficult weekend for all concerned as the day before the race took place, 67-year-old Robert Foote, who was volunteering as a marshal at the circuit, was killed after a car crashed, hitting two people on the track. Ruben dedicated his victory to the fallen marshal in the aftermath of his victory.

When asked about the importance of 'the orange army,' to motorsport, Ruben said: "We definitely wouldn't be able to go racing without them, they're literally the first ones there and the last ones to leave, they do all the hard work behind the scenes to actually get us out on the track. So after what happened on Saturday it was really good of them to come back out and run the event for Sunday."

Ruben's next race in the series is at the home of British motorsport, Silverstone, in Northamptonshire, on the weekend of 21/22 August.

If you'd like to know more about Ruben Hage Racing, you can visit his Facebook page here .

To watch last week's race at Brands Hatch, click play on the video at the top of the article .