Jules Gounon
Gounon at the2024 6 Hours of Fuji
Nationality	French
Born	(1994-12-31)31 December 1994 (age 30) Aubenas, France
Related to	Jean-Marc Gounon (father)
GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup career
Debut season	2017
Current team	Mercedes-AMGAKKodis ASP
Racing licence	FIA Silver(until 2017) FIA Gold(2018–2021) FIA Platinum(2022–)[1]
Car number	88
Starts	33 (33 entries)
Wins	6
Podiums	12
Poles	5
Fastest laps	4
Best finish	1st in2022,2023
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
2017,2022 2017 2023	24 Hours of Spa ADAC GT Masters Intercontinental GT Challenge

Jules Jean-Louis Gounon (born 31 December 1994 inAubenas) is anAndorran-basedFrench professional racing driver. He is best known for his victories in the24 Hours of Spa in2017 and2022, and theBathurst 12 Hour in2020,2022 and2023.^[2][3]

Gounon startedkarting in 2010 at the age of 15. He was crownedRotax National French Champion in 2011.^[4] In the year after, he clinched the X30 world title.^[5] He was promoted tosingle-seaters, joining theFrench F4 Championship for the2013 season and finished second with six wins.^[6] He competed one year inFormula 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 inPorsche Carrera Cup France for the next season with a grant of €30,000.^[7][8] He scored his maiden win in the championship inVal de Vienne^[9] and finished sixth in the final standings.

In2016, Gounon joinedCallaway Competition inADAC GT Masters, the German championship ofGT.^[10] He drove a brand newCorvette C7 GT3-R with his teammate Daniel Keilwitz.^[10] 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 atHockenheim, staying conscious and alert, but with an injured (although not broken) left leg.^[11] 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 the2017 season.^[12] He scored his first win of the season inRed Bull Ring.^[13] After this round, his teammate Keilwitz got injured and was replaced byRenger van der Zande who won with Gounon inZandvoort, letting the Frenchman take alone the championship's lead.^[14] He then had two difficult weekends without podium withAlbert Costa and van der Zende. However, he won his third race of the season in Hockenheim after the return of Keilwitz to competition.^[15] This last win let him seal the title in the last event.^[15] He also clinched the Junior title for drivers under 25.^[16]

Also engaged with Jean-Luc Beaubelique and Nico Bastian inBlancpain GT Series Endurance Cup (Pro-Am Cup), Gounon took two podiums. He was recruited byAudi SportTeam Saintéloc for the2017 24 Hours of Spa, the greatest race of GT, teaming up withChristopher Haase andMarkus Winkelhock.^[17] 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.^[18][19] This 2017 edition was very tight as six cars arrived in the same lap as the leader.

In2018, Gounon, at the age of 23, was signed byBentleyM-Sport as an official factory driver forBlancpain GT Series Endurance Cup andIntercontinental GT Challenge, replacingOliver Jarvis.^[20] WithSteven Kane andGuy Smith, the Frenchman had to develop the newBentley Continental GT3 which replaced the former generation.^[20] InPaul Ricard, he scored his maiden podium with Bentley finishing second.^[21] He missed the win because of a bonnet problem.^[22] For the2018 24 Hours of Spa, he had to leave the race after some braking problems. He also did a one-off inSuper GT for the Fuji 500-mile race.^[23] He finished thirteenth which represented the best result of the team that season in the Japanese championship. 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".^[24]

For the centenary ofBentley in 2019, Gounon was engaged inBlancpain GT Series Endurance Cup andIntercontinental GT Challenge withSteven Kane andJordan Pepper. After two complicated races, he set the fastest time of the qualifying session inPaul Ricard, faster than his teammates and than his rivals.^[25] Battling with theFerrari 488 GT3 ofMiguel 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.^[26] Two weeks later, Gounon participated in his first24 Hours of Le Mans withRisi Competizione, teaming up withOliver Jarvis andPipo Derani on a Ferrari 488 GTE Evo.^[27] 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.^[28]

2021 would see Gounon become aworks driver for theMercedes team, as he took part in theGT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup withDaniel Juncadella andRaffaele Marciello.^[29] A strong start with a podium inMonza and a sixth place inLe Castellet was followed by disappointment atSpa, 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.

Gounon teamed up withJuncadella andMarciello once more at the rebranded AKKodis ASP Team for the 2022 season of theEndurance Cup.^[30] Having taken the overall victory at the24 Hours of Spa, the Frenchman and his teammates ended up winning the championship at the end of the year, beating outAntonio Fuoco by a mere two points.^[31][32][33]

During the same year, Gounon raced in theADAC GT Masters alongside junior driverFabian Schiller.^[34] The pair finished third in the standings, amassing four wins and a further podium.^[35]

Having switched to anAndorran racing license at the start of 2023, Gounon began the campaign in fine style, grabbing a class victory at the24 Hours of Daytona and following that up by winning theBathurst 12 Hour race outright for a record-breaking third year in a row, despite racing alongside an amateur driver in the form ofKenny Habul.^{[36][37][38][39][40]} Gounon later apologised to fellowMercedes-AMG driverMaro Engel, with whom he had collided merely half an hour before the finish.^[41]

The season would contain campaigns in three championships: theGTWC Europe Endurance Cup, where Gounon and Marciello would attempt to defend their title alongsideTimur Boguslavskiy, the GTD Pro class inIMSA, which the Frenchman contested alongside Juncadella forWeatherTech Racing, and theBritish GT Championship asIan Loggie's teammate.^[42][43][44] Despite a retirement in the Endurance Cup season opener atMonza, Gounon would be able to retain the title, with wins atLe Castellet and theNürburgring sandwiching a runner-up finish at the24 Hours of Spa.^{[45][46][47][48]} Over in America, Gounon, together with Juncadella,Maro Engel andCooper MacNeil, won the24 Hours of Daytona at the start of the year.^[49] Gounon and Juncadella combined for a further three victories that season, including a triumph at the season-endingPetit Le Mans race, which earned them second in the drivers' standings and the title in the Michelin Endurance Cup.^[50] The British series proved to be less fruitful, as the Frenchman scored a lone win atOulton Park and finished sixth in the drivers' championship, having missed one race.

Throughout the year, Gounon took part in the full calendar of theIntercontinental GT Challenge. With a victory at Bathurst, third places atKyalami andAbu Dhabi and runner-up finishes in Spa andIndianapolis, the Frenchman would clinch the title, having completed a podium sweep whilst racing with four different Mercedes-affiliated teams.^[51][52]

Gounon is the son of the former racing driverJean-Marc Gounon, who finished second in the24 Hours of Le Mans in1997 and raced inFormula One withMinardi andSimtek.^[53] The Frenchman has been in a relationship withWEC driverMichelle Gatting since 2022.^[54]

^* Season still in progress.

(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position) (Races initalics indicate fastest lap)

(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position) (Races initalics indicate fastest lap)

(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position; races initalics indicate fastest lap)

(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position) (Races initalics indicate fastest lap)

(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position) (Races initalics indicate fastest lap)

^* Season still in progress.

^*Season still in progress.

(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position; races initalics indicate fastest lap; small number denotes the finishing position)

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
2025	Alpine Endurance Team	Frédéric Makowiecki Mick Schumacher	Alpine A424	Hypercar	384	10th	10th

(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position; results initalics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Team	Co-drivers	Car	Class	Laps	Ovr. Pos.	Cla. Pos.
2018	M-Sport	Guy Smith Steven Kane	Bentley Continental GT3 (2015)	Pro	265	16th	6th
2019	M-Sport	Steven Kane Jordan Pepper	Bentley Continental GT3 (2018)	Pro	311	8th	8th
2020	M-Sport	Jordan Pepper Maxime Soulet	Bentley Continental GT3 (2018)	Pro	314	1st	1st
2022	SunEnergy1 Racing / Triple Eight Race Engineering	Kenny Habul Martin Konrad Luca Stolz	Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo	Pro-Am	291	1st	1st
2023	SunEnergy1 Racing / AKKodis ASP Team	Kenny Habul Luca Stolz	Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo	Pro	323	1st	1st
2024	SunEnergy1 Racing	Kenny Habul Luca Stolz	Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo	Pro	275	2nd	2nd
2025	75 Express	Kenny Habul Luca Stolz	Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo	Pro	306	3rd	3rd

(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position) (Races initalics indicate fastest lap)

(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position) (Races initalics indicate fastest lap)

^† Driver did not finish, but was classified as he completed 90% race distance.
^* Season still in progress.

(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position) (Races initalics indicate fastest lap)

(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position) (Races initalics indicate fastest lap)

• ^1 – Ineligible for points having failed to meet minimum drive time.

^* Season still in progress.

(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position) (Races initalics indicate fastest lap)

Wikimedia Commons has media related toJules Gounon.

• Jules Gounon onInstagram
• Jules Gounon career summary at DriverDB.com

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