Formula Renault 3.5 Series rookie Daniël De Jong continued his strong progress in the category during the latest round at the Hungaroring in Budapest over the weekend, 2nd/3rd July, with a pair of solid race finishes.Driving for Comtec Racing, the 18-year-old from Westmaas in The Netherlands raced from 25th on the grid into a 16th place finish during Saturday's 45-minute encounter while on Sunday he again climbed up the order - this time from  22nd on the grid into the top 18.As the weeks go by in his first season in the proven FIA Formula One World Championship feeder series, Daniël continues to edge closer and closer to the front-running pace and this past weekend in Hungary marked another step forward for him."This was another good weekend for us", said Daniël, "Like in Nurburgring during the last round second qualifying went better than the first and I was able to find more time and get closer to the top guys. The races were OK, Hungaroring is a very tough place to overtake but I was able to learn more again and keep improving. That's what this first season in Formula Renault 3.5 is all about."During the two free practice sessions on Friday, 1st July, Daniël got down to a best time of 1m36.031 seconds (164.2 km/h) but in race one qualifying on Saturday morning he sliced a full seven 10ths of a second off that with a lap of 1m35.326 seconds (165.4 km/h) to go 25th on the timesheets.Rain prior to the opening FR 3.5 encounter did leave the track damp in places but the racing line was dry and so all cars ran on slick tyres. Making a decent start, Daniël ended lap one in 22nd position and had gained another place by lap three before making additional progress during the middle stages.With a third of the race to run, the Dutch teenager held 17th position and that's where he remained to the chequered flag on lap 29. Post-race though, he was moved up another place into 16th due to a 10 second penalty for Arthur Pic. In terms of his speed, Daniël's best lap was also impressive - a time of 1m37.796 seconds (161.3 km/h) within just six 10ths of a second of top 10 pace.Sunday's qualifying session delivered yet more improvement with the 22nd best time of 1m34.206 seconds (167.4 km/h), within only 1.3 seconds of pole position and a mere 0.3 seconds shy of the top 12 to underline the championship's competitiveness. Remaining in 22nd position until lap five, the Karpack, Boix and De Jong ECOCUPS-backed driver rose into the top 20 and remained around that placing for the bulk of the 'pit-stop' race. As the action neared its conclusion, Daniël was able to gain two further spots to cap another solid performance.Formula Renault 3.5 Series now takes a seven week break ahead of the seventh event of the 2011 season which will take place at Silverstone Grand Prix Circuit in the UK on 20th/21st August.  Before then though, Daniël will bolster his experience by making his competitive debut in the Auto GP series, also in the UK, at Donington Park on 16th/17th July with MP Motorsport.