Ruben Hage extended his impressive podium tally at Brands Hatch last weekend where he scored a sixth race win of the season and a tenth podium at the penultimate round of the Protyre Motorsport Ginetta GT Championship.
Despite having missed the official Ginetta test day at Brands Hatch two weeks prior unlike his competitors, and therefore never having driven around the Brands Hatch GP layout in his Ginetta G56 GT Pro, Ruben put in an unbelievable performance in qualifying as he clinched pole position for the fourth time this season.
Race One
A decent start saw Ruben going door to door with the championship leader around Turns One and Two but ultimately led him to concede the position as he dropped to 2nd spot. Pilling the pressure on early, Ruben stayed on the tail of his rival ahead, and they developed an impressive gap to the pack behind during the opening part of the race.
After an incident further back in the field, safety cars and red flags were brought out at the mid-point of the session, forcing Ruben to concede the advantage he’d gained on the pack behind, as the race was temporarily halted.
As the race restarted, with Hage this time finding himself starting in P2 on the grid, he secured another good start and maintained his position into Turn One as his rivals behind fought him hard for the position.
With less than two minutes of the race, it was a two-man race for the win as Ruben and his rival ahead had once again built a sizeable gap to the field behind, despite the prior interruptions to the session.
The battle for the win was brought to a gutting end for Hage as his gearbox failed coming out of Paddock Hill bend, cutting all power from the engine and forcing him to pull off of the track to come to terms with his first retirement of the season.
Race Two
Having fixed the cause of the unavoidable technical issue for Ruben and the Breakell Racing team, Ruben started race two in second position, and he made an incredible getaway from the line, immediately placing himself into the lead of the race as the field flew down Paddock Hill Bend.
In a similar fashion to race one, Hage quickly broke away from the pack behind with Reade on his tail. The pressure was relentless from the most decorated driver in the championship behind, but Ruben remained unfazed by the attacks and remained unbreakable as he kept his Ginetta firmly in the top spot.
Coming into the final stages of the race, the safety car was deployed for the second time that weekend, but Hage controlled the field well on the rolling restart, and went for an early getaway which proved successful at holding the train of cars behind.
With less than five minutes on the clock and merely a car length between Ruben and his rival behind, it was a sprint to the finish and Hage expertly held off the mounting pressure from Reade as he crossed the line in first, clinching his third win in just the last five races!
Race Three
After the success from race two, Ruben had his eyes firmly set on clinching a seventh race win of the season in the final race of the weekend.
Starting on pole, Ruben executed another perfect start as he held the lead off the line. However, an uncharacteristic mistake saw Ruben drop a wheel on the grass at one of the fastest parts of the circuit, dropping him to second spot despite recovering well and returning to the track.
Determined to retake the lead, Ruben pushed on looking for a way past Davies ahead, and seized the opportunity at Druids as Reade also followed him through.
Ruben found himself under immediate pressure yet again by Reade behind, but as the race progressed, Ruben’s older tyres began to give way causing his pace to drop off. Capitalising on Hage’s difficult situation, Reade found a way past at Paddock Hill Bend, demoting Ruben back down to P2.
Despite Ruben’s best efforts to mount another challenge for the lead, he was unable to do so and began to fall further back from the leader as the race progressed.
As the chequered flag waved, Ruben crossed the line in a respectable second spot to clinch his tenth podium of the year and earn him crucial championship points.
Ruben Hage said: “Brands Hatch was another great meeting and I felt that myself and the team put in another strong performance.”
“It was amazing to secure my sixth race win of the season, and especially as I was able to celebrate with my partners who joined us trackside for our RHR Partners Weekend!“
In just six weeks, Ruben will be making a return to his home circuit, Donington Park, on the 20-22 October for the 2023 Protyre Motorsport Ginetta GT Championship finale weekend.
Photos by Jakob Ebrey Photography