Gounon Taking “Humble” Approach to “Dream Program”

Photo: Gruppe C Photography

Jules Gounon says he will embark on his first full season in DTM with a “very humble” mindset, describing his move into the series in a full-time capacity with Winward Racing as a “dream program.”

The Andorran racer will pilot the Mamba-liveried No. 48 Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo for the eight-round championship, which kicks off this weekend with a round at the Oschersleben circuit.

Gounon joins Winward in place of Lucas Auer, who has moved to the returning Team Landgraf stable as part of Mercedes-AMG’s reshuffle of its DTM lineup.

His DTM commitments, part of his efforts as a factory driver for Mercedes-AMG, form part of a combined program for the 30-year-old, who also competes for Alpine in the FIA World Endurance Championship.

Speaking with Sportscar365, Gounon acknowledged that he has been put in a “very privileged” position to compete in what is one of Germany’s most high-profile championships.

“For me, it’s a dream program to be honest,” Gounon said.

“I think at the moment, the two golden championships are definitely WEC and the DTM. I would say that DTM is going back up again in the last two years.

“A lot of fans are coming to the races, people start to enjoy the close GT3 racing that you can get in DTM.

“So it’s something that I was looking for and obviously it’s one of the best programs you can get with AMG. I’m very privileged that they gave me that program so I will try to make it worth it.”

Gounon made his DTM debut at last year’s Hockenheim finale, joining Haupt Racing Team as a stand-in for Luca Stolz as the German was sidelined for health reasons.

In hindsight, Gounon attributes that weekend, in which he scored his first series points with sixth in Race 1, as a key stepping stone towards his full season debut.

“At the end it was unfortunate because Luca is a very good friend of mine so I didn’t like to go there to replace him for health issues,” he said.

“But I think it was good for AMG to see what I could be able to do in this kind of series and also for me to see if I like it.

“Because I never did proper high-level single-seaters where you’re alone and working only around your car. So I actually really enjoyed it and I just had a fantastic weekend.

“Not the result that we wanted at the end, but the pace was there. So I just enjoyed it so much that I asked also for AMG if it would be a possibility to do it for 2025 and they were happy about the weekend so that’s where we are.”

Gounon described the combination of competing in DTM and WEC, as well as GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Endurance Cup, as a ‘quality over quantity’ approach to his racing this year.

“It gives me more time to train to arrive very fit for the Hypercar races and for the DTM races,” he said.

“I think it’s a good combo to always keep a championship where it’s high intensity, very short races and then have endurance racing where you need to think more about the car and the longer stint and so on.

“So I think it’s great to mix the both of them.”

Despite his extensive experience with Mercedes-AMG, Gounon has only taken part in a handful of races with Winward.

He raced for the team’s American operation in the Indianapolis 8 Hours in 2022 and then joined the Christian Hohenadel-led European arm for the most recent Asian Le Mans Series campaign.

There, Gounon noted he got the opportunity to first work with Thomas Gleibs, the race engineer that he will be partnered with as part of the crew for the No. 48 Mercedes-AMG in DTM this season.

Gounon struck a realistic tone when asked about his expectations for his first full season in DTM, noting he’ll have to play catchup to the series’ roster of established drivers that have raced in the series longer than him.

“They have a lot of experience,” Gounon said.

“They’ve been doing the championship for many, many years and they are all very great drivers.

“So my goal is to arrive very humble, do my job, enjoy, have fun. And in general, when I do that, it’s working pretty well. So I will just try to continue to do that.

“I need to learn the new team, new engineers, new mechanics. So once again, it’s a process, but I am really motivated. I’m up for the challenge and I can’t wait for the season to start.”