Ruben Hage made an impressive start to the 2023 season last weekend at the opening round of the inaugural Protyre Motorsport Ginetta GT Championship at Oulton Park where he picked up a second place finish alongside two top five results.
Hage, who had a successful pre-season test at the Cheshire based track with his team Breakell Racing three weeks prior, was feeling confident in the car and had his sights firmly set on a podium result all weekend.
RACE ONE
After a strong qualifying session on Saturday in sunny conditions, Ruben finished in P3, placing his Ginetta G56 GT Pro on the second row of the grid for race one later that day.
As the lights went out, a poor getaway demoted Ruben to fifth after the first lap, but he fought back and took fourth place early on. As the race progressed, Ruben’s pace continued to improve and he was consistently gaining time on the cars further up the track in the podium positions.
By the last lap, Ruben had gained on the car ahead and, trying to cash in on a mistake made by his rival, made a move around the outside with his eyes on the podium. Unfortunately, a defensive move by his rival saw Ruben forced onto the grass, dropping him back down to P4 where he remained as he crossed the line.
RACE TWO
After a day off on Sunday, Ruben returned on Monday for the final two races of the weekend, at a cold and rainy Oulton Park. Again starting on the grid for race two, thanks to his stellar qualifying performance, Ruben once again struggled on the start in the now wet conditions and dropped down to fifth.
Following suit from race one, Ruben quickly got past the cars ahead, and a move around the outside after Cascades Corner saw him move up to third place. Still contending with the damp conditions, Ruben pulled a four second gap to the car behind in the final 10 minutes and flew past the chequered flag in third place. Unfortunately, a 10 second penalty for a ‘start line infringement’ saw him demoted to fourth in the final result.
RACE THREE
After coming so close to the podium in both of the previous races that weekend, Ruben had his eyes set on leaving the weekend with some silverware.
This time starting fourth on the grid, he made an improved getaway from the line and held his ground into turn one. A collision behind gave Ruben some valuable breathing room, and he solely focused on building his attack on the cars ahead.
The damp conditions on slick tyres provided challenging, but with more rain looming around the 2.69-mile-long Oulton Park circuit, Hage pushed on determinedly as he consistently set purple sectors and passed both cars in front of him whilst the crowd enjoyed some well received wheel-to-wheel action.
Now sitting in P2, and at this point the fastest car on the track, Ruben was hunting down the leader, gaining time on his rival by the minute. However, an incident further down in the pack caused by the treacherous conditions saw the red flag come out, squashing Ruben’s opportunity for a win.
Speaking on his stellar start to his 2023 season, Ruben said: “I’m thrilled with how this season has started. To be walking away with one of my best qualifying results, two P4 finishes and a second-place podium on the first race weekend of the year is a massive achievement and bodes well for the next round at Silverstone.
“The Breakell Racing team were brilliant all weekend, and their podium sweep across all three drivers is testament to their hard work.
“A massive thank you has to be said to all of my partners who I am so proud to be working with this year, and I hope to continue the podium success as the season develops.”
Ruben leaves the first weekend in the championship standings, and just 33 points behind the championship leader. His 2023 season continues on 6-7 May when the Protyre Motorsport Ginetta GT Championship heads to the iconic Silverstone circuit on the British GT support package.