MARK Wakefield has said a stirring finish to the 2018 season has restored his belief he can be a front-runner.

The Northwich driver stood on the podium after three of the final four races, winning two of those, to conclude a debut campaign in the Volkswagen Racing Cup on a high.

It propelled him to ninth in the final standings.

“It’s a big weight off my shoulders,” he told the Guardian.

“I know I was new to the championship but that doesn’t stop you from wanting to show that you can compete with the guys at the front.

“For a long while that wasn’t happening and so it’s a massive boost for me to have been up there during the past couple of rounds.”

Wakefield celebrated an impressive victory in the finale at Donington Park, helped by an inspired tyre choice in drying conditions, when he surged from fifth position with two laps left to take the chequered flag first behind the wheel of a Team HARD Racing VW Golf.

Mark Wakefield had reason to smile after winning the final race of the 2018 season in the Volkswagen Racing Cup at Donington Park behind the wheel of a Team HARD Racing VW Golf

It completed an impressive sequence that started at Oulton Park, his home circuit, and continued at Croft where he recorded a maiden race win since switching to the series from the MINI Challenge UK.

He added: “The season has maybe ended at a bad time just as my results are improving!

“However it’s a good moment to be at the front of people’s minds as a race-winner, particularly when you start to think about sponsorship and funding for next year."

The 21-year-old is keeping his options open for 2019 and tested a machine at Silverstone earlier this month that will contest the newly-formed Touring Car Trophy.

“I got up to speed pretty quickly,” he said.

“The car is amazing, and I’d love to drive it next season given the chance.”