Sam Bird continues to lead the 2012 World Series by Renault despite a fuelling mistake in qualifying at Spa.

The 25-year-old, who dominated in the last round to win in Monaco, had to start from the back of the grid in race two on Sunday after running out of fuel in qualifying – falling foul of the same rule that saw Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton penalised in the Spanish Grand Prix last month.

Despite the set back, the Hersham racer fought his way through the pack to finish fifth, adding to the third place he chalked up in race one on Saturday, and maintained his position at the top of the standings.

“The team were very upset with themselves for the mistake in qualifying” said Bird.

“But these things happen and we stuck together. We win as a team, we lose as a team and on a weekend when things didn’t particularly go our way, we still extracted everything possible to get the best results and from that perspective, we have to be satisfied.”

The next round is at the Nürburgring on June 30.