Hucknall racer Ruben Hage is aiming to end his impressive season on a high as he hunts podiums and even a maiden win in the final round of the Ginetta GT5 Challenge at Donington Park.

The event takes place in just over a week's time (Saturday 15 & Sunday 16 October) and sees the series return to Ruben's local track where he claimed his best result of the season, a third place, back in April.

Hage stepped up to Ginettas this year after two and a half years in the Junior Saloon Car Championship and has exceeded expectations with impressive qualifying performances and a series of points finishes which sees him sit sixth in the championship.

Now, with one round remaining, Hage is keen to add to his trophy cabinet. Speaking exclusively to Hucknall Nub News, he said: "The aim coming into Donington is at least one podium but what we really really want is a win, I think that would be really good to end the season on a high like that. I definitely learnt a lot from Donington last time so hopefully we can carry that across."

The final round follows Ruben's best weekend of the season when he claimed three top seven finishes in a triple header at Brands Hatch last month. This marked a return to racing for the first time in two months following the scheduled summer break.

It was a return to the scene of Hage's first car racing victory which happened last July. However, it was weekend overshadowed by tragedy when marshal Rob Foote was killed following an accident in a Classic Touring Car race.

Reflecting on his thoughts ahead of the meeting, Ruben said: "I've got some good memories of Brands, I got my first podium there back in 2019. Then last year of course the win which is obviously two really great events but of course there's been some not great events that have happened there.

"The meeting I got my first win was where the marshal was killed so that was something that was brought back. There were mixed emotions. I was looking forward to Brands Hatch, it's probably my favourite circuit. But obviously remembering what happened last year wasn't the nicest thought as I was getting strapped into the car ready to go out."

In qualifying he had looked set to secure his first front row start of the season as he sat second fastest with just over a minute of the session remaining, only to see two competitors improve in the last few seconds of the session demoting him to fourth for the first two races of the weekend.

Qualifying has been a clear strength of Hage's this season. Asked if he was pleased with how he had performed in qualifying this season, he said: "Definitely. Especially because qualifying throughout my racing career so far has always been my weakest point. We'd always qualify relatively poorly and then work our way up during the race. Obviously this year things have gone a lot better than we expected. I think the ability to hop in the car in pretty much any conditions and go flat out is something that I'd say was definitely a strength this year."

The first race saw Hage finish fifth after starting fourth but it was a much more exciting race than the basic statistics would suggest.

An excellent start saw Ruben fighting for the race lead after the first corner and a good move into Druids put him in the lead of a race for the first time this year. Unfortunately, it wouldn't last long as he ran side by side with championship contender Will Jenkins at one of the fastest points of the circuit and found himself bouncing across the grass, narrowly avoiding the barriers. This off-track excursion demoted him to the bottom end of the top ten. However, the 17-year-old staged a gutsy comeback, setting the fastest lap in the process as he took fifth at the flag.

Of this result, he said: "Ultimately crossing the line I was quite happy with myself being able to get back through the pack but looking from where we started and where we were sitting on lap one it was a bit of a disappointment."

On the mental strength it takes to fight back from adversity during a race, he added: "Previously it was something I really struggled with, essentially not reacting to anything in the car, you react afterwards. When you're driving your sole purpose is to drive, not do anything else. Every millisecond you're sat there complaining is time lost in the end and can make a massive difference in the end. I think now it's something that happens naturally, if something goes wrong (I adopt a) sort of what's done is done mentality really. All you have to do is try and rebuild it back from there."

Ruben followed this up with a seventh and a fourth to take home his biggest haul of points so far this season and move up to sixth in the championship with just the Donington Park finale remaining.

For more information about Ruben Hage racing, click here.