Van Buuren began his motorsport career in karting in 2004 , where he remained active until 2012. In 2011 he also made his debut in formula racing . For Van Amersfoort Racing he competed in the Northern European Formula Renault and was 21st in the drivers' championship. He also completed four Formula Renault 2.0 Eurocup events . In 2012 van Buuren moved to Manor MP Motorsport and remained active in both series. In the Northern European Formula Renault he achieved eleventh place in the drivers' championship with a third place as the best result, while his team-mate Jordan King was runner-up. In the Formula Renault 2.0 Eurocup, he did not take part in an event and reached 32nd place overall.
In 2013 van Buuren stayed with Manor MP Motorsport and switched to the Auto GP . At the race in Mugello he finished in first place. After the race, however, he was given a time penalty because he had run over the white line at the pit exit after the pit stop. He fell back to tenth place. With a second place as the best place, he finished the season in ninth place in the drivers' standings. In 2014 van Buuren competed for Pons Racing in the Formula Renault 3.5 . Fifth place was his best result. He prevailed internally against his teammates and was 19th overall. In 2015 van Buuren switched to Lotus within the Formula Renault 3.5 . After there had already been contractual disputes between van Buuren and Lotus at the fourth race weekend at the Hungaroring , Lotus then terminated the contract with van Buuren. For the fifth event in Spielberg van Buuren returned to Pons Racing, whose regular driver Philo Paz Patrick Armand paused due to visa problems. Nevertheless, he improved to 15th place overall. After leaving the Formula Renault 3.5, van Buuren switched to MP Motorsport in the GP2 series and took part in an event there.