Jules Jean-Louis Gounon (born 31 December 1994 in

Aubenas Aubenas (; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the southern part of the Ardèche Departments of France, department in Southern France. It is the seat of several government offices. The mountainous and rugged countryside is popular for vacation ...

) is an

Andorra Andorra, officially the Principality of Andorra, is a Sovereignty, sovereign landlocked country on the Iberian Peninsula, in the eastern Pyrenees in Southwestern Europe, Andorra–France border, bordered by France to the north and Spain to A ...

n-based

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

professional racing driver. He is best known for his victories in the

24 Hours of Spa The 24 Hours of Spa is an endurance racing event for cars held annually since 1924 at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Stavelot, Belgium. It is currently sponsored by CrowdStrike. History The Spa 24 Hours was conceived by Jules de Their and ...

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

and

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

, and the

Bathurst 12 Hour The Bathurst 12 Hour, currently known as the Meguiar's Bathurst 12 Hour for sponsorship reasons, is an annual endurance race for Group GT3, GT and Production car racing, production cars held at the Mount Panorama Circuit, in Bathurst, New South ...

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

and

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

Career

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

Gounon started

karting Kart racing or karting is a motorsport discipline using open-wheel, four-wheeled vehicles known as go-karts or shifter karts. They are usually raced on scaled-down circuits, although some professional kart races are also held on full-size motor ...

in 2010 at the age of 15. He was crowned

Rotax Rotax is the brand name for a range of internal combustion engines developed and manufactured by the Austrian company BRP-Rotax GmbH & Co KG (until 2016 BRP-Powertrain GmbH & Co. KG), in turn owned by the Canadian Bombardier Recreational Prod ...

National French Champion in 2011. In the year after, he clinched the X30 world title. He was promoted to

single-seaters An open-wheel car is a car with the wheels outside the car's main body, and usually having only one seat. Open-wheel cars contrast with street cars, sports cars, stock cars, and touring cars, which have their wheels below the body or inside fend ...

, joining the

French F4 Championship French F4 Championship, formerly known as Formula Renault Campus France, Formula Campus, Formul'Academy Euro Series, F4 Eurocup 1.6 is a form of open wheel racing founded in 1993 by Louis Drouet. It is based in France and aims at karting gradua ...

for the 2013 season and finished second with six wins. 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, with him being forced to work as a car cleaner for a time, Gounon took part in the "Espoir Porsche Carrera Cup France 2015" scholarship thanks to a €1,500 gift from his grandfather; he ended up winning the shootout to take part in

Porsche Carrera Cup France Porsche Carrera Cup France is a Spec racing, one make motor racing championship held in France. The cars are Porsche 911 GT3#Motorsport, Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (Type 991.2) with 4.0 liters, Flat-six engine, flat-6 naturally aspirated engines that pr ...

for the next season with a grant of €30,000. He scored his maiden win in the championship in Val de Vienne and finished sixth in the final standings.

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

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

, he joined Callaway Competition in

ADAC GT Masters The ADAC GT Masters is a grand tourer-based auto racing series founded by the international Stéphane Ratel Organisation (SRO) and supported by the German ADAC automotive club. Similar to an earlier ADAC GT Cup series in the 1990s, the new GT ...

, the German championship of GT. He drove a brand new Corvette C7 GT3-R with his teammate Daniel Keilwitz. 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 Hockenheim () is a town in northwest Baden-Württemberg, Germany, about 20 km south of Mannheim and 10 km west of Walldorf. It is located in the Upper Rhine Plain, Upper Rhine valley on the tourist theme routes "Baden Asparagus Route" ( ...

, staying conscious and alert, but with an injured (although not broken) left leg. 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. He scored his first win of the season in

Red Bull Ring The Red Bull Ring is a motorsport race track in Spielberg, Austria, Spielberg, Styria, Austria. The race circuit was founded as Österreichring (translation: Austrian Circuit) and hosted the Austrian Grand Prix for 18 consecutive years, from t ...

. After this round, his teammate Keilwitz got injured and was replaced by

Renger van der Zande Renger is both a surname and a given name. Notable people with the name include: * Annemarie Renger (1919–2008), German politician * Thomas Renger (born 1972), German sitting volleyball player * Renger van der Zande (born 1986), Dutch racing driv ...

who won with Gounon in

Zandvoort Zandvoort () is a municipality in the province of North Holland, Netherlands. It is one of the major beach resorts of the Netherlands; it has a long sandy beach. It is bordered by coastal dunes of Zuid-Kennemerland National Park and the Amsterdam ...

, letting the Frenchman take alone the championship's lead. He then had two difficult weekends without podium with

Albert Costa Albert Costa Casals (; born 25 June 1975) is a Spanish former professional tennis player. He is best remembered for winning the men's singles title at the French Open in 2002. Tennis career Costa began playing tennis at the age of five. He ...

and van der Zende. However, he won his third race of the season in Hockenheim after the return of Keilwitz to competition. This last win let him seal the title in the last event. He also clinched the Junior title for drivers under 25. Also engaged with Jean-Luc Beaubelique and Nico Bastian in

Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup The GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup, formerly for sponsorship reasons the Blancpain Endurance Series from 2011 to 2015 and Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup from 2016 to 2019, is a sports car racing series developed by SRO Motorsports Gr ...

(Pro-Am Cup), he took two podiums. He was recruited by

Audi Sport {{Commons category, World Rally Championship teams Teams A team is a group of individuals (human or non-human) working together to achieve their goal. As defined by Professor Leigh Thompson (academic), Leigh Thompson of the Kellogg School of ...

Team Saintéloc for the

2017 24 Hours of Spa The 2017 Total Spa 24 Hours was the 70th running of the Spa 24 Hours. It was also the fourth round of the 2017 Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup and was held on 29 and 30 July at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium. The race was won by Au ...

, the greatest race of GT, teaming up with

Christopher Haase Christopher Haase (born 26 September 1987 in Kulmbach) is a German professional racing driver. He currently competes in the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup with Audi customer team Tresor Attempto Racing. Among his most notable successes a ...

and

Markus Winkelhock Markus Winkelhock (; born 13 June 1980) is a German professional racing driver. He is the son of Manfred Winkelhock and nephew of Joachim Winkelhock, both of whom were Formula One drivers in the 1980s. During his brief Formula One career he led th ...

. 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. This 2017 edition was very tight as six cars arrived in the same lap as the leader.

2018-2020: Official factory driver for Bentley

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

, Jules Gounon at the age of 23, was signed by

Bentley Bentley Motors Limited is a British designer, manufacturer and marketer of Luxury vehicle, luxury cars and Sport utility vehicle, SUVs. Headquartered in Crewe, England, the company was founded by W. O. Bentley (1888–1971) in 1919 in Crickle ...

M-Sport M-Sport is a motorsport engineering company headquartered at Dovenby Hall near Cockermouth, United Kingdom. It is primarily known for entering the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) since 1997 in partnership with Ford, manufacturing race an ...

as an official factory driver for

and

Intercontinental GT Challenge The Intercontinental GT Challenge is a sports car racing series developed by the Stéphane Ratel Organisation, SRO Group in 2016. It consists of international Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance races for grand tourer racing cars complying w ...

, replacing

Oliver Jarvis Oliver Richard Benjamin Jarvis (born 9 January 1984) is a British professional racing driver currently racing in the 2023 FIA World Endurance Championship, FIA World Endurance Championship, 2023 European Le Mans Series, European Le Mans Series an ...

. With

Steven Kane Steven Colin Kane (born 5 June 1980) is a British racing driver who currently competes in the Blancpain Endurance Series and Avon Tyres British GT Championship for M-Sport Bentley driving a Bentley Continental GT3. Career Kane, who was born ...

and Guy Smith, the Frenchman had to develop the new Bentley Continental GT3 which replaced the former generation. In

Paul Ricard Paul Louis Marius Ricard (; July 9, 1909 – November 7, 1997) was a French industrialist and creator of an eponymous pastis brand which merged in 1975 with its competitor Pernod to create Pernod Ricard. Ricard was also an environmentalist and t ...

, he scored his maiden podium with Bentley finishing second. He missed the win because of a bonnet problem. For the

2018 24 Hours of Spa The 2018 Total Spa 24 Hours was the 71st running of the Spa 24 Hours endurance race. It was also the fourth round of the 2018 Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup and was held on 28 and 29 July at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium. Entry li ...

, he had to leave the race after some braking problems. He also did a one-off in

Super GT Super GT (stylized as SUPER GT) is a sports car racing series that began in 1993. Launched as the , generally referred to as the All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship (JGTC), the series was renamed to Super GT in 2005. It is the top level of ...

for the Fuji 500-mile race. 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". Gounon Pepper Kane 3H Barcelona 2019

For the centenary of

in 2019, Jules Gounon was engaged in

and

with

and

Jordan Pepper Jordan Lee Pepper (born 31 July 1996) is a South African racing driver, currently competing in the Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup. He is the son of former South African Touring Car driver Iain Pepper and younger brother of W Series (champions ...

. After two complicated races, the Frenchman set the fastest time of the qualifying session in

, faster than his teammates and than his rivals. 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. Two weeks later, Jules Gounon participated in his first

24 Hours of Le Mans The 24 Hours of Le Mans () is an endurance-focused Sports car racing, sports car race held annually near the city of Le Mans, France. It is widely considered to be one of the world's most prestigious races, and is one of the races—along with ...

with

Risi Competizione Risi Competizione is an Italo- American auto racing Ferrari factory-backed team formed by Giuseppe Risi in 1997. Initially, the team had a partnership with Doyle Racing using the name Doyle-Risi Racing, but soon Giuseppe Risi took full control of ...

, teaming up with

and

Pipo Derani Luís Felipe "Pipo" Derani (born 12 October 1993) is a Brazilian race car driver who is currently a factory driver for the Genesis Magma Racing program. He is an overall winner of the 2016 24 Hours of Daytona and the 2016, 2018, 2019, and 2023 ...

on a Ferrari 488 GTE Evo. 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.

Since 2021: GT World Challenge success with Mercedes

2021

2021 would see Gounon become a works driver for the Mercedes team, as he took part in the

GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup The GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup, formerly for sponsorship reasons the Blancpain Endurance Series from 2011 to 2015 and Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup from 2016 to 2019, is a sports car racing series developed by Stéphane Ratel Or ...

with

Daniel Juncadella Daniel Juncadella Pérez-Sala (born 7 May 1991) is a Spanish racing driver who currently competes in the FIA World Endurance Championship for TF Sport. He is son of Xavier Juncadella and nephew of José María Juncadella, Alex Soler-Roig and Lui ...

and Raffaele Marciello. A strong start with a podium in

Monza Monza (, ; ; , locally ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) on the Lambro, River Lambro, a tributary of the Po (river), River Po, in the Lombardy region of Italy, about north-northeast of Milan. It is the capital of the province of Mo ...

and a sixth place in Le Castellet was followed by disappointment at

Spa A spa is a location where mineral-rich spring water (sometimes seawater) is used to give medicinal baths. Spa health treatments are known as balneotherapy. The belief in the curative powers of mineral waters and hot springs goes back to pre ...

, where the outfit was forced to retire, having previously taken pole position. The team ended their campaign positively, appearing on the rostrum in the final two races, which included a win at the season finale, ultimately putting Gounon second overall.

2022

Gounon teamed up with Juncadella and Marciello once more at the rebranded AKKodis ASP Team for the 2022 season of the Endurance Cup. Having taken the overall victory at the

, the Frenchman and his teammates ended up winning the championship at the end of the year, beating out

Antonio Fuoco Antonio Fuoco (born 20 May 1996) is an Italian racing driver who is currently competing in the FIA World Endurance Championship for Ferrari AF Corse in the Ferrari 499P. He also serves as a development driver for the Scuderia Ferrari Formula One ...

by a mere two points. During the same year, Gounon raced in the

alongside junior driver

Fabian Schiller Fabian Schiller (born 24 May 1997) is a German racing driver who currently competes in the Nürburgring Endurance Series. Career Junior formula Schiller began his racing career in karting at the age of 12, competing in the ADAC Kart Masters ser ...

. The pair finished third in the standings, amassing four wins and a further podium.

2023

Having switched to an

n racing license at the start of 2023, Gounon began the campaign in fine style, grabbing a class victory at the

24 Hours of Daytona The 24 Hours of Daytona, also known as the Rolex 24 At Daytona for sponsorship reasons, is a 24-hour sports car racing, sports car Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance race held annually at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Flo ...

and following that up by winning the

race outright for a record-breaking third year in a row, despite racing alongside an amateur driver in the form of Kenny Habul. Gounon later apologised to fellow

Mercedes-AMG Mercedes-AMG GmbH, commonly known as AMG (Aufrecht, Melcher, Großaspach), is the high-performance subsidiary of Mercedes-Benz, Mercedes-Benz AG. AMG independently hires engineers and contracts with manufacturers to customize Mercedes-Benz AMG v ...

driver

Maro Engel Maro René Engel (born 27 August 1985) is a Germans, German professional racing driver based in Monaco. He is a Mercedes-AMG factory driver since 2008 & brand ambassador since 2017. He is a FIA GT World Cup Champion (2015, 2024), Nürburgring 2 ...

, with whom he had collided merely half an hour before the finish. The season would contain campaigns in three championships: the GTWC Europe Endurance Cup, where Gounon and Marciello would attempt to defend their title alongside Timur Boguslavskiy, the GTD Pro class in

IMSA The International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) is a North American sports car racing sanctioning body based in Daytona Beach, Florida, under the jurisdiction of the Automobile Competition Committee for the United States, ACCUS arm of the Féd ...

, which the Frenchman contested alongside Juncadella for WeatherTech Racing, and the

British GT Championship The British GT Championship is a sports car racing series based predominantly in the United Kingdom. The series was originally created by the British Racing Drivers' Club in 1993 and, for its first two seasons, was known as the National Sports G ...

as Ian Loggie's teammate. Despite a retirement in the Endurance Cup season opener at

, Gounon would be able to retain the title, with wins at Le Castellet and the

Nürburgring The () is a 150,000-person capacity motorsports complex located in the town of Nürburg, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It features a Grand Prix motor racing, Grand Prix race track built in 1984, and a long configuration, built in the 1920s ...

sandwiching a runner-up finish at the

. Over in America, Gounon, together with Juncadella,

and

Cooper MacNeil Cooper Ian MacNeil (born September 7, 1992 in Hinsdale, Illinois) is a retired professional American racecar driver. He most recently competed in the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship driving the No. 79 WeatherTech Racing Mercedes-Benz AMG GT3 ...

, won the

at the start of the year. Gounon and Juncadella combined for a further three victories that season, including a triumph at the season-ending

Petit Le Mans Petit Le Mans (French language, French for ''Little Le Mans'') is a sports car racing, sports car Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance race held annually at Road Atlanta in Braselton, Georgia, United States. The race has been held for a durat ...

race, which earned them second in the drivers' standings and the title in the Michelin Endurance Cup. The British series proved to be less fruitful, as the Frenchman scored a lone win at

Oulton Park Oulton Park is a hard surfaced Race track, track used for motor racing, close to the village of Little Budworth, Cheshire, England, from Winsford, from Chester city centre, from Northwich and from Warrington, with a nearby rail connection a ...

and finished sixth in the drivers' championship, having missed one race. Throughout the year, Gounon took part in the full calendar of the

. With a victory at Bathurst, third places at

Kyalami Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit (from ''Khaya lami'', ''My home'' in Zulu language, Zulu) is a motor racing circuit located in Midrand, Gauteng, South Africa, just north of Johannesburg. The circuit has been used for Grand Prix motor racing, Grand ...

and

Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi is the capital city of the United Arab Emirates. The city is the seat of the Abu Dhabi Central Capital District, the capital city of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, and the UAE's List of cities in the United Arab Emirates, second-most popu ...

and runner-up finishes in Spa and

Indianapolis Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...

, the Frenchman would clinch the title, having completed a podium sweep whilst racing with four different Mercedes-affiliated teams.

Personal life

Gounon is the son of the former racing driver

Jean-Marc Gounon Jean-Marc Gounon (born 1 January 1963) is a French racing driver. He raced in Formula One Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédérati ...

, who finished second in the

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

and raced in

Formula One Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...

with

Minardi Minardi was an Italian automobile racing team and constructor founded in Faenza in 1979 by Giancarlo Minardi. It competed in the Formula One World Championship from 1985 until 2005 with little success, nevertheless acquiring a loyal following ...

and

Simtek Simtek (Simulation Technology) was an engineering consultancy firm and Formula One racing team. The Formula One (F1) engineering consultancy arm, Simtek Research, was founded in 1989 by Max Mosley and Nick Wirth. It originally was involved i ...

. The Frenchman has been in a relationship with WEC driver

Michelle Gatting Michelle Sophie Gatting (born 31 December 1993 in Århus) is a racing driver from Denmark. An Iron Dame since the project's inception, she is a Porsche contracted driver currently competing in the FIA World Endurance Championship and the Europea ...

since 2022.

Racing record

Racing career summary

^* Season still in progress.

Complete French F4 Championship results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Complete Formula Renault 2.0 NEC results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Complete Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Complete Porsche Carrera Cup France results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Complete ADAC GT Masters results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap) ^* Season still in progress.

Complete GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup results

^*Season still in progress.

Complete Super GT results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap; small number denotes the finishing position)

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

Complete IMSA SportsCar Championship results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; results in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Complete Bathurst 12 Hour results

Complete British GT Championship results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap) ^† Driver did not finish, but was classified as he completed 90% race distance.
^* Season still in progress.

Complete Asian Le Mans Series results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Complete Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap) ^* Season still in progress.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gounon, Jules 1994 births Living people People from Aubenas French racing drivers French F4 Championship drivers Formula Renault Eurocup drivers Formula Renault 2.0 NEC drivers Racing drivers from Lyon GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup drivers ADAC GT Masters drivers 24 Hours of Spa drivers 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers 24 Hours of Daytona drivers 24H Series drivers WeatherTech SportsCar Championship drivers Super GT drivers International GT Open drivers British GT Championship drivers Mercedes-AMG Motorsport drivers Auto Sport Academy drivers Keerbergs Transport Racing drivers AV Formula drivers Meyer Shank Racing drivers Karting World Championship drivers Audi Sport drivers Phoenix Racing drivers Nürburgring 24 Hours drivers Saintéloc Racing drivers M-Sport drivers Craft-Bamboo Racing drivers French expatriate sportspeople in Andorra Asian Le Mans Series drivers Porsche Carrera Cup France drivers Boutsen Ginion Racing drivers Proton Competition drivers FIA World Endurance Championship drivers Signature Team drivers Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters drivers 21st-century French sportsmen