Hucknall's teenage racer Ruben Hage made a welcome return to the podium last weekend in the Junior Saloon Car Championship at his home circuit Donington Park.

Boosted by a number of supporters who'd made the short trip to the Leicestershire circuit to back him, Ruben capped a fine weekend with a second place finish in race two on Sunday (24 October).

Coupled with fifth place in the first race, it represented a good haul of points which keeps him firmly in the hunt for a top three finish in the championship standings.

Speaking exclusively to Hucknall Nub News, he said: "I was quite happy with the results walking away. A fifth and a second was kind of where we wanted to be going into the weekend; ideally we wanted a win but it didn't quite happen.

"It was nice to take points out of Alfie Jeakins which was the aim coming into it, not as many as we could have got but either way I'm still happy and it's only a 20 point gap to get back into the top three in the championship heading to Brands."

The weekend started positively enough as Ruben qualified fifth and second for the weekend's two races.

On race day, there was drama before the first race had even got underway as he was hit from behind by one of his fellow competitors on the way to the grid.

He said: "I came straight out the assembly area, hadn't even gone round the corner yet and just warming up my tyres and got ploughed into the back of.

"There was a good 20-30 mph speed difference. He smashed straight into the back of me which I thought would be the end of my race because the car started making weird noises, I think it was just bits and pieces rubbing on the wheels that eventually broke off. It bent the boot in but it was still pointing in a straight line near enough, it made the back end a little bit loose but I still managed to carry on which was good."

The damage to the other car was so severe that he was unable to start the race and Ruben was aware that the same fate could so easily have befallen him too through no fault of his own.

"There wasn't that big a gap between race one and two, there was only a couple of hours, if we'd bent the chassis that's then weekend over.

"You can't drive angry especially in changing conditions like that and when you're going for a championship as well, you just have to reset as much as you can. Try and concentrate on the start of the race get everything going through your mind like normal but also try to feel what the car's doing underneath you, get the back end stepping out a bit just to make sure it's still pointing in a straight line near enough which thankfully it was."

In the race itself despite having a slightly damaged car Ruben found himself in the battle for a podium but was edged out on the final lap and had to settle for fifth.

In race two, a good start saw him battling for the lead on the opening lap before the safety car was deployed which neutralised the race.

At the restart Hage was forced to defend for most of the race from championship leader Charlie Hand. He resisted this pressure until the final lap when the two drivers ran side by side and both made a mistake losing out to Jamie Petters. However, a determined charge saw Ruben retake the position at the final corner to claim second position and his first podium since his victory at Brands Hatch in August.

The championship returns to Brands Hatch for the season finale on the weekend of Saturday 6 November and Sunday 7 November.