MARK Wakefield improved his chances of winning a title after celebrating a second race win of the campaign last weekend.
He capitalised on a mistake by a rival to cross the line first in the Volkswagen Racing Cup opener at Donington Park on Saturday, converting a personal-best qualifying position since joining the series last year.
The Northwich ace took fourth the following afternoon, an impressive result given his car was slowed by success ballast.
A haul worth 80 points moves him closer to leader Martin Depper in the drivers' standings.
“I’m made up,” he told the Guardian.
“It’s a circuit where I’ve done well in the past and you hope that you can just repeat what happened before.
“To get another win, plus good points in the second race when I expected to be further back, has put us in a fantastic position to challenge."
As is becoming custom, the 21-year-old's weekend wasn’t without drama.
A test on at the circuit on Thursday identified a problem with the gearbox in his HSG Sport-prepared VW Golf, prompting mechanics from the Kingsley garage to replace it.
Wakefield said: “It was crunching in third gear, and we just didn’t want to risk doing any damage.
“I went into qualifying a bit blind and not knowing what to expect, only to go and put it second on the grid.
“You could say it worked out alright because that might be our best result. It's definitely up there."
Wakefield slipped back initially to third at the start of race one took the position back from a faltering Rob Allum before beginning a pursuit of pole-sitter Josh Coggan’s DW Racing Golf.
The latter was favourite to take a win until his machine sustained damage under the bonnet after running over a kerb.
Wakefield took advantage, snatching the lead.
And he never looked likely to let it go, establishing a four-second advantage before taking the chequered flag.
He said: "I made a cracking start, but on old tyres we seemed to struggle a bit and I was worried I'd made the wrong decision.
"The car lit up later though and I was able to catch Josh and have a battle with him.
"Once I got past I was able to drive away."
He occupies third position in the standings, 10 points shy of Depper once totals are adjusted to account for dropped scores.
The series' fifth round follows at Croft next month.
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