Heading to Snetterton for the third race weekend in just four weeks, Ruben Hage battled to secure three finishes in the points in the Norfolk sunshine amid exceptionally close racing all weekend.
Determined to continue the momentum from the previous round at Silverstone, where Hage secured a consecutive hat-trick of race wins around the Grand Prix circuit, he was looking forward to getting stuck in at the front of the pack once again.
Despite having to miss out on the Friday test sessions due to exam commitments, Ruben scored an impressive fourth in qualifying on Saturday morning, putting him in a great position for the first race of the weekend.
Race One
Sitting fourth on the grid, Ruben made a good start initially but lost a position heading into the first corner due to teammate Garnett’s better jump off the line. Lining his car up on the inside as the pack headed into the Wilson Hairpin, Hage lost out and returned to fourth position.
With fifteen minutes left to go, Ruben pulled a nearly two-second gap to the cars behind as he pushed on to catch the leading pack, looking for an opportunity to get into podium contention.
Unfortunately, consistent lap times being put in by both Ruben and his rivals ahead meant no opportunity to overtake arose, and he crossed the line in P4, earning himself a great result to kick off the weekend.
Race Two
Once again lining up fourth on the grid, Ruben made another great start, holding his ground into turn one as he went around the outside of White, and still managed to maintain position as they raced door-to-door around the first lap of the race.
With marginally quicker pace, Hage piled the pressure on the car ahead and made a move up the inside around Oggies which unfortunately backfired as team-mate Angliss took the opportunity to slip through, dropping Ruben to fifth.
As the onboard camera provided exciting footage of Ruben’s view from inside the cockpit to all those watching the race from home, Ruben made the crucial move on the next lap which put him back up into fourth spot.
Crossing the line in P4, Ruben thought he had secured the final podium spot thanks to the car ahead receiving a five-second penalty, but a post-race penalty for Ruben meant the podium slipped out of his grasp as he was moved back into fifth position. Ruben was disappointed to miss out on the podium despite battling hard throughout the race but was pleased to be able to put on another good show for all the fans trackside and watching the live-streamed race from home.
Race Three
Hage started the final race of the weekend from the third row of the grid alongside team-mate Carl Garnett, and made a great start from fifth spot, moving up to fourth within the first lap as the pack battled around the three-mile circuit.
Whilst battling for position on lap four, a car behind darted up the inside into turn one, and as Ruben moved to the outside line to avoid contact, he had to move onto the dirty side of the track, causing him to lose grip and take to the grass.
Hage re-joined the track in seventh place after his excursion, and with a large gap to the car ahead of him in sixth, he got his head down. Despite battling back to sixth spot and taking large amount of time out of the cars in fourth and fifth in the final part of the race, Ruben crossed the line in sixth, achieving a great recovery drive and another points finish.
Ruben Hage said: “It’s been a mixed weekend, but ultimately a successful one as I picked up three more points finishes after some hard battles throughout the weekend.”
“Thank you to the Breakell Racing team for working hard in the heat to make sure the car was at its best. I’m looking forward to the small break now before we head to Cadwell Park in just five weeks’ time for what I’m sure will be an action-packed weekend.”
Ruben now sits fifth in the championship, just 45 points behind White ahead, and will be looking to continue to build on his points tally when the Protyre Motorsport Ginetta GT Championship heads to Cadwell Park in Lincolnshire on the 21-23 July.
Photos by Jakob Ebrey Photography