Ruben Hage made an unforgettable European debut in the opening round of the 2025 Ligier European Series, securing a podium finish and valuable championship points alongside team-mate Luis Carlos Pérez Cabello.
This season marks a significant step up for Hage, who has joined the highly competitive grid after a call-up from the prestigious ASM Motorsport team.
Remarkably, Friday’s free practice sessions marked Hage’s first opportunity to get behind the car this season, with no prior testing, and his debut outing at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. Despite the steep learning curve, the young Brit wasted no time getting up to speed.
In FP1, an early Full Course Yellow limited track time, but team-mate Luis Carlos Pérez Cabello managed a best lap of 1:48.677 to go P9. With just under 15 minutes left, Hage jumped in and immediately impressed with a 1:47.761, marking a clear statement of intent.
FP2 saw Ruben go even quicker, clocking a 1:47.312 to place the car in P4 before handing over to Pérez Cabello for the closing stages, who finished the session in P7.
Pérez Cabello took the start for Race One, making a strong getaway to climb from P8 into P5 on the opening lap. After some shuffling in the early stages, the ASM Motorsport #12 car was running P6 with 46 minutes remaining when a safety car was deployed following an incident further down the field.
Hage jumped in during the mid-race driver change and rejoined in P11 as the field bunched up under the safety car. With a series of confident moves as racing resumed, including a clean overtake on Steed into turn one, Hage climbed into the top six with just fifteen minutes remaining on the clock.
As the clock wound down and another safety car briefly interrupted the closing stages, Hagekept his cool. On the final lap of green-flag racing, he pulled off a decisive move on the #60 car to secure a hard-fought P4 finish, and was later promoted to P3 after penalties were awarded up ahead.
Hage was behind the wheel for the start of race two and made an excellent launch from tenth on the grid, immediately gaining two positions off the line. A brief off at turn two dropped him back to P11, but he recovered well, climbing to P9 by the end of the first lap.
A safety car was deployed with just over 50-minutes remaining, and once the field went back to green, Hage continued his charge, working his way up to P4 by the time the pit window opened.
Unfortunately, fluid that was sprayed onto the windscreen by a car suffering a technical issue further up the field hindered Pérez Cabello’s stint, severely limiting his visibility and hampering his ability to push. Despite the setback, Pérez Cabello kept the car on track and brought it home in P10 for a valuable points finish.
Hage commented:
“I’m elated with how our weekend went. It was my first race with the team, and the first time at Barcelona, so to come away with a P3 finish and strong points in both races is a great way to start the season.”
“Finishing the first heat sixth in the drivers’ championship gives us a solid foundation, and we’re ready to push for more at the next round.”
The Ligier European Series continues next month when the series heads to Circuit Paul Ricard on 2-3 May 2025.