Manor MP Motorsports Oliver Rowland produced an outstanding performance during round three of the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 season at Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium on Saturday, 1st June, to claim his first race victory of 2013.

Beginning the race from fifth on the grid, having qualified third fastest in his group, the British driver rocketed into second place on the opening lap and closed up behind race leaderand fellow Racing Steps Foundation-backed competitorJake Dennis, before moving ahead at the end of lap three.Immediately opening up a healthy advantage, Rowland was 2.7 seconds to the good by lap eight and thereafter ran an impressively controlled race. Untroubled throughout, he took the chequered flag 1.7 seconds clear.

With so much competition around I wasnt expecting to win, reflected Rowland, There were a few private duels going on out there and that helped me to keep out of trouble. We showed some good pace in testing and we needed everything to click in the race, getting my first win of the year more than makes up for a disappointing qualifying session.With the 25 points gained for the win, the former McLaren Autosport BRDC Award winner moved into second place in the standings. However, a no-score in round four on Sunday, 2nd June, meant Rowland ended the weekend fourth in the title racealbeit just 12 points shy of the lead.After a re-start due to an early red flag stoppage following a two-car collision, the second race was going well for Rowland and he ran in the top five into the closing stages. On the final lap though, the Britons car encountered mechanical problems so he ended up a lap down in 33rd place.Team-mate Javier Merlo progressed strongly through the order during his first ever race at Spa in round three, an impressive drive from the Argentinian netting him a season best 23rd place having carved his way through from 32nd position on the grid.

In round four, the first year Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 racer matched that performance with another excellent showing. Remaining composed following the red flag and during a further Safety Car period later on in the re-started race, Merlo underlined his continued improvement.Its obviously fantastic to get our first win with Oli, congratulations to him for a great drive, said Manor MP Motorsports Tony Shaw, He did a top job all weekend, we were gutted to have the car problem so close to the end of the second race as hed driven superbly again. Javier too was very strong this weekend, he really delivered some great performances and is making big steps forward.Career-best fourth in AUTO GP for Van Buuren at SilverstoneDutch racing driver Meindert van Buuren secured the best result of his maiden season in AUTO GP during round eight of the campaign at Silverstone Grand Prix Circuit on Sunday, a fifth place finish becoming fourth post-race following a penalty for a rival.Beginning the second race of the weekend on the reverse grid pole position, having finished in eighth place during round seven on Saturday, the Manor MP Motorsport rookie made a good start but was beaten around the outside at Copse by Kimiya Sato.Although slipping to third midway around lap one, van Buuren maintained the podium place well under intense pressure from GP2 Series regular Kevin Giovesi. Defending impressively, he moved up into second as the mandatory pit-stops started to be taken before serving his on lap 12.

Rejoining in fifth ahead of team-mate Danil De Jong, who had pitted at the end of lap four from fifth place, van Buuren remained there to the chequered flagas did De Jongbut they were both elevated a position due to a penalty for Narain Karthikeyan.Italian racer Riccardo Agostini started down in 15th place, having retired from round seven on Saturday, but produced a good drive to battle his way through into a strong top 10 finish which became ninth post-race.De Jong was the best of the trio in the opening race, taking an early pit-stop and then fighting through from 13th position into fifth at the finish. Once again though, a penalty for a rivalthis time Giovesihoisted the Dutchman into fourth post-race. Van Buuren ran in fifth until he pitted around half distance, he then went on to finish in ninth which turned into eighth after Giovesis penalty.Its been quite an OK weekend really, although we were disappointed not to be on the podium, commented team principal Sander Dorsman, Meindert did a really great job, hes getting quicker all the time and he defended very well from [Kevin] Giovesi in race two.

Danil scored good points again, but he wanted to be back on the podium as he had hoped for more from this weekend. It was a pity for Riccardo in race one to spin out but he was able to come through into the points in the second race so that wasnt so bad.Moscow Raceway in Russia will host rounds five and six of the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 season three weeks from now on 22nd/23rd June. In AUTO GP, Mugello in Italy will be the venue for rounds nine and 10 of the 2013 season over the weekend 13th/14th July.

Provisional 2013 Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 Standings (after Rd4):4th Oliver Rowland, 41pts; No ScoreJavier Merlo

Provisional 2013 Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 Team Standings (after Rd4):5th Manor MP Motorsport, 41ptsProvisional 2013 AUTO GP Driver Standings (after Rd8):5th Riccardo Agostini, 53pts; 7th Danil De Jong, 48pts; 10th Meindert van Buuren, 29ptsProvisional 2013 AUTO GP Under 21 Standings (after Rd8):2nd Riccardo Agostini, 97pts; 4th Danil De Jong, 79pts; 5th Meindert van Buuren, 75ptsProvisional 2013 AUTO GP Team Standings (after Rd8):4th Manor MP Motorsport, 122pts