Jules Gounon has enjoyed a strong run of results in recent months, but getting there wasn’t easy. After more than two years in which things rarely seemed to fall his way, the endurance ace has found his way back to the front. Looking back on the difficult period, Gounon is most proud of one thing: he never gave up.
The effort has finally paid off in the previous race weekends, especially in GT World Challenge Europe. The turnaround seemed to start in Italy, when he stepped in for Chris Lulham at Misano. Gounon put the Mercedes-AMG Team Verstappen Racing car on pole and finished second together with Dani Juncadella. At Magny-Cours, the duo was invincible on Saturday: Gounon secured a dominant pole, with an as dominant first victory following that night.
It meant more than ‘just collecting the silverware’. It was a statement win after months of hard work, setbacks and fighting to get back at that level. Gounon doesn’t believe in bad luck, however, the streak of challenging weekends was frustrating to say the least. It was a remarkable shift in the season after an uncomfortable start, while the difficulties have lingered under the surface for longer.
“It was quite difficult, to be honest, because wasn’t just only five races of struggle,” Gounon tells GT REPORT in an interview. “Last year was very difficult also. We had a lot of heartbreak. We were really fast in Spa, but it didn’t work. Also in Bathurst and Daytona. I personally felt like, for probably two and a half years, nothing was really clicking. Often issues and always leaving the racetrack very disappointed.”
‘At one point it becomes harder and harder’
The Frenchman, racing under the umbrella of Andorra, is brutally honest as always. Earlier this season, Gounon already spoke openly about his determination to turn things around. After taking pole position at Magny-Cours, he told GT REPORT that “the only losers are the ones who quit”, a mindset that has become even more significant after his recent run of results.
Behind that phrase was a period that genuinely tested him. “At one point it becomes harder and harder when you go home. You know you don’t have to give up, but it’s hard,” Gounon admits. “The fans always see the top of the iceberg, which is the glory of being a race car driver, the chance to travel the world, to earn money, to be well paid, to represent great brands and so on.”
“But there are also a lot of downsides, which is never seeing your family, never seeing your friends, being flat out all the time with a lot of pressure. Sometimes when the results don’t come, you see a bit more of the negative because then you don’t feel the enjoyment of winning.”
For Gounon, winning has always been one of the biggest motivations behind racing. The day he goes racing aiming for seventh place is “probably the day I should stop racing”. He says it with his usual humorous flair, but he means it. “At the end of the day, I think as a racing driver: at least for me, I do it to win. Otherwise I just don’t enjoy it.”
The Nürburgring 24 Hours was one of the hardest moments. Verstappen Racing had been in contention until a mechanical issue ended the #3 Mercedes-AMG GT3’s race. “The Nürburgring episode was really hard, because I really felt that it was kind of unfair,” Gounon says. “We did a really good race and when the mechanical side just puts you down, there’s nothing you can do about it. It’s just unlucky.”
“It’s a sport that’s mechanical, so sometimes it’s the way it is. Even if the Mercedes-AMG GT3 I’ve been driving for seven years has been such a reliable car, sometimes stuff happens. It was really, really hard, but I kept coming back, showing up. I was lucky to have a lot of support also from my girlfriend, who was there for me and helping me to not give up.
“At the end of the day, I keep showing up and at one point it will turn. And it turned.”
Gounon fought back harder: ‘Here I am, I’m back’
The turnaround started in Misano. Gounon was originally supposed to have some time away from racing during the summer, having completed what he describes as 17 consecutive race weekends. Instead, the call came from Mercedes-AMG Team Verstappen Racing when Lulham required surgery for appendicitis. Gounon was, of course, happy to answer.
“I love working with the Mercedes-AMG Team Verstappen Racing,” he says. “I feel the vibe between everybody in the team – it super cool and super friendly. So that’s why when I got the call to replace Chris, I was happy to do it.” Misano resulted in pole position and second place. At Magny-Cours, Gounon and Juncadella finally converted their pace into victory.
“To do it on home soil for me in Magny-Cours, in front of a lot of French fans, was really special,” he says. “Especially with Dani, as we’ve known each other for ten years and we won so many races together.”
The results also provided some personal reassurance. Gounon has endured a particularly difficult DTM campaign this year. “For example, people are telling you that you don’t understand the tyres, or the championship, or this or that.
“But at the end you’re a human being. From Misano to Oschersleben, I didn’t change. I’m just myself. I have my weaknesses, I have my strengths, and sometimes it’s hard to accept that you go somewhere and, for some reason that I don’t understand, it just doesn’t work. So it was very nice also, for me personally, to be back and show it. There are still some weaknesses that I want to improve, but it was kind of a relief to know that I didn’t quit. And here I am, I’m back.”
‘It’s easy for people to forget what you achieved’
Even with an established career in GT racing, Gounon knows how quickly perceptions can change. Recent results often carry more weight than everything that came before them. “Sometimes what’s difficult in motorsport is that you are as good as your last race,” he explains, when GT REPORT suggests that ‘he’s never been gone’.
“No matter how much you have achieved in the past. It’s very easy for people to forget what you have achieved, or how fast you were. You have to perform all the time, otherwise you are quickly forgotten.”
The people close to Gounon – the people he needs and who’s opinons and support matter the most – never forget what he’s capable of. One of those people is his teammate, Juncadella. “I trust him 200% and I always will,” he says. “It’s also nice to know that you have somebody that has your back, and I have his back.”
It made the Magny-Cours win even more special: “When you are a competitor and you dedicate your life to the sport, of course you take it personally. But at the end of the day, it’s still a sport. It was a huge relief, I think, for everyone. Also for Verstappen, it’s their first year with Mercedes-Benz. To be able to compete against teams that have been there for ten years is a huge achievement. I was very proud of the whole team.”
Full attack going forward: ‘Always’
Gounon’s wish for a successful DTM season is, despite his recent pole position and podium at the Sachsenring, still left unanswered. Gounon remains disappointed by how his DTM campaign has unfolded and says he still cannot fully explain why he has struggled for pace this season.
“At the beginning of the year I took it really personally, because I put a lot of effort into performing in DTM,” he says. “But at the end of the day, when it doesn’t go your way, it doesn’t matter if you want to force it or not. I hope in the future I can have a proper shot at DTM, but at the moment I’m just going to try to finish on a high.”
Asked what he will be proud of when he eventually looks back on the season, Gounon does not point towards any individual result. Instead, he goes back to something his father taught him. “My dad always told me, when you go out there on the track, you need always to learn something when you come back. That’s what I always try to do.”
“So the thing I would be proud of is just to not have given up at any moment where it could have been a moment where we could have given up. I would still have a little pinch in my heart for the 24 and the Nürburgring, to be honest. This one I think will hurt for a long time, because it was such a fairytale story. But at the end of the day, not all fairytale stories end the way you them to.”
There is little doubt about how Gounon intends to respond. “We always go full attack. As soon as we step into a race car, we aim to go full attack. And the year is not finished yet.”
