Hucknall racing driver Ruben Hage secures first podium of the season at Donington Park

Hucknall racer Ruben Hage claimed a maiden Ginetta GT5 Challenge podium on Sunday at Donington Park live in front of the television cameras.

Starting from a lowly 15th on the grid for the final race of the weekend, Hage battled his way through the field, showing great racecraft to find himself fourth and in a three car battle for two podium positions in the closing stages of the race.

However, an unexpected technical failure for race leader Will Jenkins, who had gapped the rest of the field, brought out the red flags and saw Ruben classified in third position.

The result unsurprisingly delighted the 16-year-old, coming in just his second Ginetta race meeting following the big step up from the Junior Saloon Car Championship (JSCC). The race also took place in front of a bumper crowd of around 40,000 who were trackside and was broadcast live on ITV4.

Speaking exclusively to Hucknall Nub News, Ruben said: "Coming into the season, the top ten was what we were aiming for at the first round. We didn't expect to even be battling for the podiums, let alone getting them, until the end of the season.

"To do it in the second round was unbelievable really, and to do it in such a way, from the back of the Pro field, back in 15th, gaining 12 spots in 15 minutes, it didn't seem possible. I was aiming for a top ten, maybe a top eight at a push sitting on the start line for that race, top three was out of touch really we thought but obviously somehow it happened."

The result saw Hage interviewed live on television by motorsport journalist Louise Goodman, giving his sponsors invaluable exposure.

"It all fell into place perfectly. At our home track, we had loads of family down also had a load of sponsors down as well so that was really nice for them to come down and support. There was a 40,000 strong crowd there."

Ruben (left) celebrates his first podium of the season. Photo courtesy of Ruben Hage Racing.

The podium finish helped Hage to turn around what had been a hugely frustrating weekend up to that point.

A good clean early lap in qualifying saw him sitting top of the timesheets for much of Saturday morning's session to set the grid for the first two races. However, slipstreaming, or running closely to another competitor whilst completing a qualifying lap, was worth up to half a second of lap time, and late on a number of Ruben's rivals used this tactic to vault them up the order. Unfortunately for Hage, who was circulating on his own, he could not improve and ended up eighth for the first race and seventh for the second.

"I think the lap was near enough perfect. I couldn't really set a faster lap time than what I'd already set. It's (worth) about half a second around Donington and we were 4.8 tenths off pole so if we had a tow we would definitely have been in the running for pole."

The opening race yielded an eighth place finish and more solid points on Saturday afternoon. The second race of the weekend, held on Sunday morning, looked to offer more as Ruben found himself battling for fourth place. However, as he looked to make a move at Macleans, he was caught out by another driver braking a lot earlier than he expected. In order to avoid a collision Ruben darted to the outside but ended up off the racing line and lost grip sending him spinning off into the gravel trap.

This could have been the defining point of his weekend but he regrouped to produce a stunning charge through the field that culminated in his first podium of the season.

Next up for Ruben is a chance to race at the home of British motorsport as the championship visits Silverstone during the second weekend of May for rounds seven and eight of the series.