Buurman began competitive racing in the German-based Formula Konig championship in 2002, finishing twentieth in the standings. From 2003 to 2005 he concentrated on various Formula Renault championships — the British, Dutch, European and American series — building a long association with the Fortec Motorsport team from a 2003 British Winter Series entry onward. His most successful Formula Renault results were third place in the 2003 British Winter Series and third place in the 2004 Dutch championship.
He raced briefly in British Formula Three in 2005 before committing fully to the category in 2006, finishing fourth in the British championship while also contesting four rounds of the Formula Three Euroseries with Fortec. In 2007 he joined Manor Motorsport for a full Euroseries campaign, taking sixth in the championship, and contested the Macau Grand Prix and Masters F3 events in both years.
In 2008, Buurman competed in both the GP2 Series and the GP2 Asia Series for the Arden team, alongside Sebastien Buemi. After ten rounds he was replaced at Arden by Luca Filippi. He subsequently joined the renamed Ocean Racing Technology team for the remainder of the 2008–09 GP2 Asia Series season, finishing nineteenth in the championship; he was recalled for the final two rounds of the 2009–10 Asia Series as well.
Following the loss of his GP2 drive, Buurman moved to the Superleague Formula series, which paired professional drivers with European football clubs. He drove for PSV Eindhoven in 2008, finishing second in the championship. In 2009 he drove for R.S.C. Anderlecht, and for 2010 he moved to the Atech Grand Prix-run AC Milan outfit.
Buurman debuted in the FIA GT1 Championship in 2011, making his entry at the final round at Potrero de los Funes with the Exim Bank Team China Chevrolet Corvette C6.R and winning both races. In 2012 he became a full-time Vitaphone driver alongside Michael Bartels, posting four wins, two second places, two thirds, two fourths and two fifths across the season to finish fifth in the championship. He also contested the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the 6 Hours of Castellet that year, driving a Lola B12/80 LMP2 car and finishing third at Paul Ricard.
In 2013, Marc VDS Racing Team signed Buurman to drive a BMW Z4 in the Blancpain Endurance Series Pro Cup alongside Maxime Martin and Bas Leinders. The trio took a race win and finished fourth in the series. Buurman also finished second in the 24 Hours of Nurburgring that year.
Buurman won the 2018 Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup. He also claimed the Pro-Am division of the 2020 British GT Championship, extending his record of results in GT endurance competition into the following decade.
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