Jules Gounon

Jules Gounon (born 31 December 1994 in Aubenas) is a professional French racing driver. He is best known for his victories in the 24 Hours of Spa in 2017 and Bathurst 12 Hour in 2020.[1]

Jules Gounon
Jules Gounon in 2019 for the Bathurst 12 Hour
Nationality	French
Born	31 December 1994 Aubenas, France
Related to	Jean-Marc Gounon (father)
Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup career
Debut season	2017
Current team	Bentley M-Sport
Car number	107
Previous series
2016–17 2015 2014 2014 2013	ADAC GT Masters Porsche Carrera Cup France Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 Formula Renault 2.0 NEC French F4 Championship
Championship titles
2017 2017	24 Hours of Spa ADAC GT Masters

Career

1994-2015: Youth in karting, single-seaters and Porsche Carrera Cup

Jules Gounon is the son of the former racing driver Jean-Marc Gounon, who finished second in the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1997.[2] He started karting in 2010 at the age of 15. He was crowned Rotax National French Champion in 2011.[3] In the year after, he clinched the X30 world title.[4] He was promoted to single-seaters, joining the French F4 Championship for the 2013 season and finished second with six wins.[5] He competed one year in Formula Renault 2.0, but failed to impress as he "could not get on well with the team". As his career seemed to be in a deadlock after a difficult 2014 season, he was selected "Espoir Porsche Carrera Cup France 2015" to take part in Porsche Carrera Cup France for the next season with a grant of €30,000.[6] He scored his maiden win in the championship in Val de Vienne[7] and finished sixth in the final standings.

2016-2017: Success in German GT and win in the 24 Hours of Spa

In 2016, he joined Callaway Competition in ADAC GT Masters, the German championship of GT.[8] He drove a brand new Corvette C7 GT3-R with his teammate Daniel Keilwitz.[8] Callaway ran three Corvette for this season. He won three times and put himself in title contention for the last event. However, Jules Gounon suffered a big crash at Hockenheim, staying conscious and alert, but with an injured (although not broken) left leg.[9] Finally he stood third in the final standings while developing his new car during the year. Callaway Competition decided to run only the car of Gounon and Keilwitz for the 2017 season.[10] He scored his first win of the season in Red Bull Ring.[11] After this round, his teammate Keilwitz got injured and was replaced by Renger van der Zande who won with Gounon in Zandvoort, letting the Frenchman take alone the championship's lead.[12] He then had two difficult weekends without podium with Albert Costa and van der Zende. However, he won his third race of the season in Hockenheim after the return of Keilwitz to competition.[13] This last win let him seal the title in the last event.[13] He also clinched the Junior title for drivers under 25.[14]

Also engaged with Jean-Luc Beaubelique and Nico Bastian in Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup (Pro-Am Cup), he took two podiums. He was recruited by Audi Sport Team Saintéloc for the 2017 24 Hours of Spa, the greatest race of GT, teaming up with Christopher Haase and Markus Winkelhock.[15] Despite running one lap down in the first half of the race because of a mis-threaded wheel, Gounon and his teammates came back in front. He battled with a Bentley in the last hours and created an 11-second gap with it to win the biggest victory in his career.[16][17] This 2017 edition was very tight as six cars arrived in the same lap as the leader.

Since 2018: Official factory driver for Bentley

In 2018, Jules Gounon at the age of 22, was signed by Bentley M-Sport as an official factory driver for Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup and Intercontinental GT Challenge, replacing Oliver Jarvis.[18] With Steven Kane and Guy Smith, the Frenchman had to develop the new Bentley Continental GT3 which replaced the former generation.[18] In Paul Ricard, he scored his maiden podium with Bentley finishing second.[19] He missed the win because of a bonnet problem.[20] For the 2018 24 Hours of Spa, he had to leave the race after some braking problems. He also did a one-off in Super GT for the Fuji 500-mile race.[21] He finished thirteenth which represented the best result of the team that season in the Japanese championship. Jules Gounon said about that 2018 season: "I have progressed and learnt a lot. [...] I had to get used with a new car. The target was to have a good car at the end of the season. Unfortunately, we had a lack of speed in straight lines. With this new Continental GT3, Bentley started again from the beginning. 2018 was a season of development. After more than two years of work with German people, I discovered another vision of motorsport with a different way of working. The Bentley Continental GT3 will have a say in 2019".[22]

For the centenary of Bentley in 2019, Jules Gounon was engaged in Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup and Intercontinental GT Challenge with Steven Kane and Jordan Pepper. After two complicated races, the Frenchman set the fastest time of the qualifying session in Paul Ricard, faster than his teammates and than his rivals.[23] Battling with the Ferrari 488 GT3 of Miguel Molina, Jules Gounon and Bentley won their first race of the year and also their first win since the introduction of their new car back in 2018.[24] Two weeks later, Jules Gounon participated in his first 24 Hours of Le Mans with Risi Competizione, teaming up with Oliver Jarvis and Pipo Derani on a Ferrari 488 GTE Evo.[25] Qualified 17th in the category LMGTE Pro, they finished 11th in this category and 40th overall, despite a mechanical problem in the last hours of the race.[26]

Racing record

Season	Series	Team	Races	Wins	Poles	FLaps	Podiums	Points	Position
2013	French F4 Championship	Autosport Academy	20	6	0	1	9	236.5	2nd
2014	Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0	KTR AV Formula	4	0	0	0	0	0	NC
	Formula Renault 2.0 NEC		10	0	0	0	0	54	23rd
2015	Porsche Carrera Cup France	Martinet by Alméras	11	1	1	1	4	125	6th
2016	ADAC GT Masters	Callaway Competition	14	3	1	0	4	152	3rd
2017	ADAC GT Masters	Callaway Competition	14	3	3	2	6	174	1st
	Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup (Pro Cup)	Audi Sport Team Saintéloc	1/5	1	0	0	1	28	11th
	Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup (Pro-Am Cup)	AKKA ASP	4/5	0	2	1	2	46	9th
	Intercontinental GT Challenge	Audi Sport Team Saintéloc RealTime Racing	2/3	1	0	1	1	25	6th
	24 Hours of Spa	Audi Sport Team Saintéloc	Winner
2018	Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup (Pro)	Bentley M-Sport	5/5	0	0	0	1	29	14th
	Intercontinental GT Challenge		4/4	0	0	0	0	4	23rd
2019	Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup (Pro)	Bentley M-Sport	3	1	1	0	1	34	3rd
	Intercontinental GT Challenge		5	0	0	0	0	10	20th
	24 Hours of Le Mans	Risi Competizione	40th overall / 11th in LMGTE Pro
2020	Intercontinental GT Challenge (Pro)	Bentley M-Sport	1	1	0	0	1	25	1st*
	WeatherTech SportsCar Championship-GTD	Meyer Shank Racing	1	0	0	0	0	21	10th*

^* Season still in progress.

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

Year	Team	Co-Drivers	Car	Class	Laps	Pos.	Class Pos.
2019	Risi Competizione	Oliver Jarvis Pipo Derani	Ferrari 488 GTE Evo	GTE Pro	329	40th	11th
2020	Risi Competizione	Sébastien Bourdais Olivier Pla	Ferrari 488 GTE Evo	GTE Pro	339	23rd	4th

References

1. "Bentley takes comprehensive win in Bathurst 12 Hour". Speedcafe. 2 February 2020.
2. Businaro, Martin (9 July 2014). "Course de leur vie #36 Jean-Marc Gounon, France 1994". f1i.com (in French). Retrieved 23 July 2019.
3. "08/11/11 CNRF: La réussite de l'année !". kartcom.com (in French). 8 November 2011. Retrieved 23 July 2019.
4. Gauthier, Stéphane (28 October 2012). "Jules Gounon remporte la finale Internationale IAME". racingforever.org (in French). Retrieved 23 July 2019.
5. "French F4 Championship 2013 standings". driverdb.com. Retrieved 23 July 2019.
6. "JULES GOUNON: ESPOIR PORSCHE CARRERA CUP 2015". autonewsinfo.com (in French). 24 November 2014. Retrieved 23 July 2019.
7. "PORSCHE CARRERA CUP. AU VAL DE VIENNE, 1ers SUCCES POUR GOUNON ET JAMINET". autonewsinfo.com (in French). 6 July 2015. Retrieved 23 July 2019.
8. "ADAC GT Masters - Gounon avec Callaway". autohebdo.fr (in French). 6 April 2016. Retrieved 24 July 2019.
9. "Schwerer Unfall von Jules Gounon im ADAC GT Masters-Finale in Hockenheim". motorsport-magazin.com (in German). 2 October 2016. Retrieved 24 July 2019.
10. Jensen, Jens (23 March 2017). "Callaway Competition with one car in ADAC GT Masters". racing24-7.net. Retrieved 24 July 2019.
11. "Callaway & Grasser Star At Red Bull Ring". dailysportscar.com. 11 June 2017. Retrieved 24 July 2019.
12. Runschke, Oliver (22 July 2017). "Win for Corvette duo of Gounon and van der Zande at Zandvoort". automobilsport.com. Retrieved 24 July 2019.
13. Runschke, Oliver (23 September 2017). "Jules Gounon is the 2017 ADAC GT Masters champion". automobilsport.com. Retrieved 24 July 2019.
14. "Hockenheim, Course 1 : Jules Gounon (Corvette) vainqueur et Champion 2017". endurance-info.com (in French). 24 September 2017. Retrieved 24 July 2019.
15. "24h de Spa - Jules Gounon pilote officiel Audi". autohebdo.fr (in French). 15 June 2017. Retrieved 24 July 2019.
16. Watkins, Gary (30 July 2017). "Sainteloc Racing Audi comes from a lap down to win Spa 24 Hours". autosport.com. Retrieved 24 July 2019.
17. "Spa 24 Hours: Winkelhock, Hasse & Gounon Win In Sainteloc Audi". dailysportscar.com. 30 July 2017. Retrieved 24 July 2019.
18. Newbold, James (15 December 2017). "Bentley signs Jules Gounon to replace Oliver Jarvis in 2018". autosport.com. Retrieved 24 July 2019.
19. Lickorish, Stephen (2 June 2018). "Blancpain GT Paul Ricard: Costa grabs Lexus's first win on last lap". autosport.com. Retrieved 24 July 2019.
20. Castaldi, Gauthier (28 July 2017). "24 Heures de Spa : Gounon défend son bien". ledauphine.com (in French). Retrieved 24 July 2019.
21. O'Connell, R.J. (5 April 2018). "Jules Gounon joins EIcars Bentley for Fuji 500 Miles". supergtworld.wordpress.com. Retrieved 24 July 2019.
22. Mercier, Laurent (9 November 2018). "Jules Gounon (Bentley Team M-Sport) : "L'intensité des courses GT3 est incroyable"". endurance-info.com (in French). Retrieved 24 July 2019.
23. Giordmaina, Jack (1 June 2019). "Bentley takes pole for Paul Ricard Blancpain GT Endurance Cup race". autosport.com. Retrieved 24 July 2019.
24. Giordmaina, Jack (1 June 2019). "Ricard Blancpain GT: Bentley makes up for 2018 heartbreak with win". autosport.com. Retrieved 24 July 2019.
25. Euwema, Davey (8 April 2019). "Oliver Jarvis and Jules Gounon complete Risi Competizione Le Mans line-up". motorsportweek.com. Retrieved 24 July 2019.
26. "Post Race Report from Risi Competizione – 2019 24 Hours of Le Mans". motegiracing.com. 16 June 2019. Retrieved 24 July 2019.

External links

• Jules Gounon on Instagram
• Jules Gounon career summary at DriverDB.com