MARK Wakefield admits his resilience is being tested during a challenging debut campaign in the Volkswagen Racing Cup.

However the Weaverham driver demonstrated his determination to climb the order and finish inside the top 10 during two races at Brands Hatch in the latest round.

He was sixth in the second, matching his best result since switching to Team HARD.

It also secured for him silverware as the highest-placed rookie.

"It's something to build on," said the 20-year-old.

"We moved forward in every race, even if it's not as much progress I would have liked.

"It's a struggle of us because the car seems to lack power in a straight line, although at a circuit like Brands you can just about get away with it."

After failing to finish either sprint at Snetterton last time out, a gearbox problem on Wakefield's VW Golf restricted him to a handful of laps during qualifying on Sunday.

From a lowly 17th position on the grid for race one, he was still able to put points on the board after crossing the line ninth.

A sixth-place finish followed in the afternoon, making it his most productive weekend to date.

Wakefield added: "I was on the back-foot after qualifying when the gearbox let us down, so to salvage something is positive.

"There is a little bit of time now before we're back out at Oulton Park in August, and with a test there beforehand I'm confident we can start to put things right and I can show what I'm capable of."

He will be in action at his home circuit this weekend too in the Britcar Dunlop Endurance Championship, sharing driving duty with Richard Woods in an HSG Sport-prepared Ford Focus.

The duo are scheduled to be on track twice; a 50-minute sprint race followed later by a two-hour battle.