Meet the Driver: One Day with Jules Gounon
I saw you just met my two dogs. So as Maro would do, legendary clap. Welcome home. I’m Jules Gounon and welcome to Andorra. Let’s go straight into the living room with the beautiful view of Andorra and on my teammate from Australia. He came all the way here.
We will race together in Asien Le Mans. and I always love to have guests. So that’s actually the mountain we’re going to hike afterwards. Hopefully there will be a bit more sunshine. Nice terrace in the morning. You can take your coffee, look at the view. So after looking at the main asset of
That apartment, which is the view, you know, in the morning you wake up from the bedroom, you see that beautiful view from the living room. It’s just amazing. I discovered that therapy called “Color déco therapy” from Mariane Sauzet that after a long quiz about yourself finds the colour that suits you the most.
And actually now when we have decorated with the colours and so I really feel relaxed which is important for me after a long race weekend. Coming into the kitchen a part that I really enjoy being at is when I’m cooking and I’m looking at that view
Even if I’m a bad cooker and put vegetables everywhere. And I think you gonna enjoy the second part of the flat, too. It’s gonna be very interesting but first I think we should go to the garage take the car, go to the mountains and see how beautiful Andorra is.
Jules? Can we continue? Sorry, actually my girlfriend is leading the race, so I actually need to watch a bit. But without a joke, I don’t know where my shoes are. This car is an E 63 S, one of my favourite cars when I was a child.
The car has the chance to be very fast, a lot of horsepower, a lot of fun and then at the same time as we are driving now, very comfortable, very easy. That’s the two sides of the AMG that I really love. Look at that! Beautiful nature.
The snow, we are going to the snow. I love this place. In ’21 I had three race weekends without racing before the 24 Hours of Spa and I trained flat out in this environment, in high altitude. And I think I never felt so good in my life.
The power you get by training in low oxygen, high altitude, your blood begins like when you go back to sea level, you’ll fly. It’s amazing. Act like I’m rock climbing. You know, for me, hiking is a bit like life. You go up and up, it’s hard. Sometimes you don’t see the summit.
You doubt yourself, am I going to make it? And time to time you sit down, look back, look what you have accomplished, how much you have went up and then you still look up and find some more motivation to go reach the summit and hopefully when you never give up
You finally make it to the summit. And now I think a pretty interesting topic for AMG fans. My favourite trophies, at least I could put a few there. This one on the top left is the first “Platz”, Rennen 2 sorry for my poor German of GT Masters.
Back in that time I got very lucky to meet Ernst Wöhr and Giovanni Ciccone and all the Callaway team that gave me my chance. They invited me for a test in Hockenheim. It was amazing and they gave me my chance to with my little sponsors to proof. We won the race.
Without meeting those two guys and a few other guys there, I would not be in front of that camera. Second one, actually the latest one, Petit Le Mans Petit Le Mans winner in GTD PRO with my two good friends Maro and Dani. Very emotional to finish the season like this
Because we won the 24h Daytona at the beginning of the season won Petit Le Mans, and became IMSA Endurance Champions that trophy right there. Next one: Another big one for me and for the guys, we won the 24 Hours of Spa in 2022 with Dani again and Raffaele Marciello, Lello.
For me it’s one of the toughest races in the world. It was 10 years AMG didn’t win it so it was very emotional for us. Next to it, 24h Nürburgring, 3rd. With Dani again and Maro, same guys. That race was a bit painful I have to say
Because we felt we were pretty unlucky which made us finish P3 but finish P3 on such an iconic race is great and it motivates us even more to go and grab and tick the bucket list. On the right side, the first Spa 24-hour win for me. You know as a 22-years old boy
Being on the podium with legends like Markus [Winkelhock] and Christopher [Haase] and other guys actually, Lello and Edo Mortara were P3 that year I didn’t understand what happened so very important one for me. On the right, 2nd in the 24 Hours of Spa again
So that was this year with Lello and Timur. Next to it a win on home soil in Paul Ricard with AMG this year actually with Lello and Timur so to win in France in Paul Ricard was always great especially I won also back in the day with Jordan Pepper and Steven Kane
In the Bentley that was a great emotion also. So that’s why it’s there and on the right the 2022 Fanatec GT World Champion with Dani and Lello also important ones. Now on our way to my simulator room and my office room which is quite important for a racer
But on our way some important pictures for me the first one Mercedes-AMG GT3 sparking through Wippermann at the Nürburgring Nordschleife one of the most iconic tracks. It’s on my big bucket list to win with Dani and Maro hopefully next year but this picture was just so lovely
That I wanted to put it there. The livery was mega. And another very emotional picture for me two years ago Kenny put that project that his goal was to try to win Bathurst overall which has never been made for an amateur driver and we actually did it this year
With Luca Stolz, Kenny and I which was our second victory in a row with this team and third in a row for me. So now we’re coming to the simulator room which I spent sometimes getting my ass kicked by the sim racers this is not so fun but I enjoy still to train
Before the race weekend which is important for me and a little bit of trophies let’s say the most important ones are the ones we saw at the entry but still but still some important ones 24h Nürburgring, 3rd second overall in Le Castellet and then And then all my helmets.
We can start with my first helmet from Go Kart I started very late I was 16 and when I started I had a white helmet which looked really bad and I always told my dad I want to have a a painted helmet
And he said that I would deserve it only if I win few races so it was a great motivation to get one so on my second year I finally got one. Then I would go to to a second very important helmet for me the helmet of my granddad
That is a helmet from 1969 imagine look at the flexibility of the helmet at that time you better not shunt let’s say. Another very important one my ’99 dad’s helmet actually with the sticker from Le Mans In that pursuit I did a revival helmet which is exactly the same lid as my dad’s.
The yellow is a bit more bright this helmet was really important for me same interior and every time I race it and saw my dad was getting emotional was something I love to try to make my dad proud. On every of my helmet as you can see I always have a panda.
The story started from that little cutie my first ever race in Go Kart we went to a very famous brand of restaurant in France which is called “Courtepaille” and when I arrived for food the waiter told me you’re a bit tall but we have one panda left so
Even if you’re a bit too old we gonna give it to you and you can see I still have the etiquette from the restaurant 2010 this one. And funny enough every time in my career I had big breaks or very lucky escape or so on there was a panda.
When I had a big crash in ADAC GT Masters lost the championship I wake up in the hospital and on top of the TV: one panda. I go to my first interview with Giuseppe Risi to do the first time the 24 Hours of Le Mans he invites me to restaurant
Panda restaurant in the plate. Every time I have big moments in my life There is a panda that appears of somewhere. That’s why I have always a panda I have also a tattoo of panda behind my watch here. So now you know the story why I have a panda behind my helmets.
Another part of this room I would say my suits because I have a few that I’ve been able to collect in the last few years. One I actually like is the one of my girlfriend. That is very important and I would say also the Bathurst one because this story people don’t know.
Obviously with Kenny we had this suit that was the main suit of Kenny before the race I had one suit made by PUMA and Carlo one of my engineers from HWA took this suit in Germany and his daughter decided to make a unicorn on my suit because she said it was bringing luck
And while I was going to take my last double stint to the end to try to win the race I had the yellow suit and I say you know when a kid of eight years old is very cute and tells you this suit is gonna bring you luck
I say “bon, why not” I’m gonna take it and the rest was just history. Thanks to that unicorn I became the third time winner there. So that was it trying to be quick which is difficult because every trophy has a history I could tell exactly what happened in that race
Why we won why we didn’t win and that’s what I love about trophies you always keep a memory and you remember the tears or the joy that the races bring.
Welcome to the home of Mercedes-AMG Performance Driver Jules Gounon. The 2023 IGTC Champion grants us a glimpse behind the scenes in Andorra and spent one day with us. Join us on a tour through his home, a hike in the mountains and take an exclusive look on his trophy and racing helmet collection.
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