Jean-Marc Gounon

Nationality:	French	Races Entered:	9
Date of Birth:	1 January, 1963	DNQ/DNPQ:	-
Teams:	Minardi (1993) Simtek (1994)	Best Result:	9th, France, 1994

BIOGRAPHY

Before Formula One

A New Years baby from Aubenas in France, Jean-Marc Gounon is another one of those drivers caught up in the pay-driver merry-go-rounds of the early 1990s, whose efforts were so blighted by substandard machinery that we will never know just how good he could have been. The indications, though, suggest that Gounon could have been very good indeed. Having begun karting as early as 1980, in 1984 he was runner up in the European Karting Championship. He won a prize French Formula Renault drive for 1985, and came 10th in the series. He leapt up to 2nd the following year, recording 2 victories, and in 1987 came 2nd again having won four times. By now he was ready to move up a class, and in 1988 Jean-Marc began competing in French F3, driving for the famous Promatecme team in a Dallara F388 Alfa Romeo. With 72 points he came 4th overall, but won rookie of the year honours as a result.

1989 was then easily the best year in his career, when he joined the ORECA team and took his Reynard 893 Alfa Romeo to 5 wins and 121 points, to leave no one in any doubt as to who the French F3 champion of that year was. In the process he scored a massive 53 points more than his nearest rival Laurent Daumet. He impressed so much that, when he moved up to F3000 in 1990, he was taken on board by the Mansell-Madgwick team, co-owned by Nigel Mansell. Unfortunately, in his three seasons in F3000 Gounon showed dashing speed at times, and was usually a demon off the line, but also displayed frustrating inconsistency. For example, in 1990 he came 9th in his Reynard 90D Mugen with 11 points, qualified as high as 3rd at Enna (and won, but was disqualified for jumping the start) but also DNQed at Pau. He crashed in 3 of his first 5 races, but had a late-season run of 3rd at Hockenheim, 6th at Brands Hatch, and 4th at Birmingham and Nogaro.

Jean-Marc also always seemed to be in the right teams but wrong cars. In 1991 he joined Mike Earle's 3001 International team, but was saddled with the unfashionable Ralt RT23 Cosworth against the better Reynards and Lolas. But after failing to qualify at Vallelunga, at the next round at Pau he won from 3rd on the grid! Two races later he had dropped to 25th on the grid at Mugello, before finishing 6th at Enna and 5th at Hockenheim. Midfield mediocrity in the remaining races saw him 6th overall with 13 points. In 1992 he switched to the DAMS team, but found his Lola T92/50 Cosworth no match for the Reynards. After coming 4th in the first round at Silverstone, he spent most of the season on the fringes of the top 5 before finishing off the season in style, coming 2nd at Nogaro and winning at Magny-Cours, beating Olivier Panis and David Coulthard from 6th on the grid. He was equal 6th overall, this time with 19 points.

Gounon hoped that this would be impressive enough to earn him a Formula One drive for 1993, and initially thought he had concluded a deal with the March team, only for the cash-strapped operation to close its doors before the season started. Another deal to race a Lola again in F3000 also came to nothing, and in the end he had to be content with doing some testing for the Larrousse F1 team, although by season's end he had finally managed to make his Grand Prix debut. He would make more F1 appearances in the second half of the tragic 1994 season, but for most of the year his main focus was on the French Super Touring championship, where he raced a BMW 318i. In contrast to his F3000 days, when he would have brilliant results mixed with weekends he'd rather forget, his season in touring cars was an exquisite example of top-5 consistency, with a best of 2nd at Paul Ricard, enough to obtain equal 5th overall with 124 points.

Formula One

Apart from his undoubted style behind the wheel, Gounon also had the advantage of bringing with him money from a French government fund set up after the ban on tobacco sponsorship. This, plus the fact that regular driver Christian Fittipaldi had fallen out with Minardi team management after looking to sign for Footwork in 1994, meant that Gounon got to make his Grand Prix debut with the minnow Italian team for the final two races in the 1993 season. They were two races he'd rather not remember. In the not uncompetitive Minardi 193 with the Ford HB V8 engine, he qualified dead last out of the 24 entrants in the Japanese GP at Suzuka. Jean-Marc then damaged his car in a collision early on, but decided to soldier on regardless, only for the team to ignominiously call him in and retire him from the race! Then in Adelaide he started 22nd, significantly faster than Pedro Lamy and Toshio Suzuki, but he spun out of the race after 34 laps.

At the start of 1994 it was widely believed and publicised that Gounon's sponsorship dollars had bought him the second seat at the new Simtek team alongside David Brabham, but as it turned out ill-fated Austrian Roland Ratzenberger showed up with even more backing, and team boss Nick Wirth decided to take him on for the first half of the season instead, leaving Jean-Marc to wait until later on in the year. Unfortunately, by the time Gounon got to race the number 32 Simtek S941 Ford HB V8, the atmosphere in the debutant team was the complete opposite of the optimistic outfit for which he had originally signed. Ratzenberger had perished in a horrible accident at Imola, and his replacement Andrea Montermini had badly hurt his ankle in another crash in the following race in Spain. It said much for Gounon's bravery that he even took on the challenge of driving the seemingly jinxed car.

Many regard Brabham as being one of the heroes of 1994 for the way he held the team together, but Gounon's efforts for seven races should not go unnoticed. Most of the time he was far from pleased, unable to find a set-up to his liking. It was to his great credit, then, that he qualified for all seven entries he had for the team (although never off the 13th and last row of the grid), and that in his first race in France he came home 4 laps behind in 9th place, Simtek's joint-best ever result. After being classified 16th in Britain, he retired from gearbox problems in Germany and as a result of wayward handling in Hungary, but he was classified 11th in Belgium. He suffered transmission problems at Monza, and in Portugal he recovered from an early spin to finish 15th, before being replaced by the better-financed Mimmo Schiattarella. Most of the time, Jean-Marc had been smart enough to know that finishing was the key, and drove safely to ensure that that could happen.

After Formula One

As he assessed his career options in 1995, Gounon competed occasionally in French touring cars and made his first start at Le Mans, racing a Societe Venturi SA Venturi 600 LM with Paul Belmondo and Arnaud Trevisiol, but although they finished they were not classified. In early 1996, he also proved his versatility by competing in the Andros Trophy Chamonix 24hrs ice racing event, partnering Christophe Vaison in a works Seat with Daniel Ortelli as navigator, finishing in 4th place. But in 1996 he took up sports car racing full-time, joining Belmondo and Eric Bernard in the Ennea/Igol team to drive a Ferrari F40 GTE in the BPR Global GT Endurance Series. After 2nd at Zhuhai and 3rds at Paul Ricard and Jarama, they were joint 5th with 151 points, but at Le Mans the car retired with electronic problems. Also, in the Philippe Charriol Supersport Trophy, Gounon came 2nd overall in a Lamborghini Diablo, after finishing 2nd at Le Mans Bugatti, Nurburgring and Spa.

In 1997 he once again competed in the Andros Trophy in a Daewoo Nexia, taking victory at the Super-Besse event. In sports cars he joined Gulf Team Davidoff in the FIA GT championship, teaming up with Pierre-Henri Raphanel and sometimes also Anders Olofsson in the McLaren BMW F1 GTR. Despite a heavy accident at Spa, 8 top-six results, including a fine 2nd at Le Mans where they were only a lap behind the winning car, saw Gounon place equal 11th overall with 22 points. As a result, in 1998 he was taken on board by the semi-works Persson Motorsport team to drive a Mercedes CLK-GTR in the FIA GT championship alongside Marcel Tiemann. More top 5 results, including 2nd at Oschersleben, saw the pair come equal 9th with 17 points. The association with the Stuttgart company saw Gounon drive one of the works AMG Mercedes CLK-LMs at Le Mans with Christophe Bouchut and Ricardo Zonta, but the car retired with engine failure.

1999 was easily Gounon's busiest year in his post-F1 career. He again competed in the Andros Trophy, this time in a Mega Club Aixam Mega car, and in the Chamonix 24hrs came 2nd with Philippe Gache and Jean Alesi. In the Canada Challenge he drove the same car with Marcel Tarres and Jean-Louis Schlesser. In the Sports Racing World Cup, he joined Bernard (and also Christophe Tinseau) in the DAMS Lola B98/10 Judd, and pulled off 4 wins in succession to place 6th overall with 80 points. He drove the same car with Tinseau and also Franck Montagny in four American Le Mans Series rounds, and with a best of 3rd at Las Vegas was equal 40th with 26 points. He also had one start in FIA GTs in a Team Belmondo Chrysler Viper GTS-R at Oschersleben with Steffen Widmann, but retired. At Le Mans, he was again with the works Mercedes team, but was teamed up with Tiemann and Mark Webber in the car in which the Aussie flipped twice in practice, and which did not start the race.

In 2000 he spent his time in America in the ALMS, joining the BMW Team Schnitzer to drive their V12 prototype alongside Bill Auberlen. Four 4th places at Sebring (where Steve Soper also drove), Charlotte, Sears Point and Laguna Seca, plus 3rds at Mosport and Las Vegas saw Jean-Marc come 12th with 153 points. At Le Mans, he drove a Bscher Promotions BMW V12 LM98 with Thomas Bscher and Geoff Lees, but the car retired with accident damage after 180 laps. In 2001, Gounon competed in the FIA World Sportscar Championship (formerly the ISRS and SRWC), originally driving a BMS Scuderia Italia Ferrari 333SP, teaming up with Marco Zadra to a win at Spa and record 2nds at Brno and Donington, helping Zadra to the eventual title. Later, he also had 3 starts with Sam Hancock in a Kremer Lola B98/K2001 Ford, but retired in all three. With 50 points, he was equal 9th. Gounon also found time to compete in the Magny-Cours round of the Lamborghini Super Trophy.

CAREER SUMMARY

Before Formula One
1980	• Began competing in karts.
1984	• European Karting Championship, 2nd overall.
1985	• French Formula Renault, 10th overall.
1986	• French Formula Renault, 2nd overall, 2 wins.
1987	• French Formula Renault, 2nd overall, 4 wins.
1988	• French F3, 4th overall, 72 points, rookie of the year in a Promatecme Dallara F388 Alfa Romeo.
1989	• French F3, 1st overall, 121 points, 5 wins in an ORECA Reynard 893 Alfa Romeo.
1990	• F3000, 9th overall, 11 points in a Mansell-Madgwick Reynard 90D Mugen.
1991	• F3000, 6th overall, 13 points, 1 win in a 3001 International Ralt RT23 Cosworth.
1992	• F3000, =6th overall, 19 points, 1 win in a DAMS Lola T92/50 Cosworth.
1993	• Tested for the Larrousse F1 team.
1994	• French Super Touring championship, =5th overall, 124 points in a BMW 318i.
Formula One
1993	• Minardi 193 Ford HB V8, 2 entries.
1994	• Simtek S941 Ford HB V8, 7 entries.
After Formula One
1995	• Competed in French touring cars. • Le Mans 24hrs, not classified in a Societe Venturi SA Venturi 600 LM with Belmondo and Trevisiol.
1996	• BPR Global GT Endurance series, =5th overall, 151 points in an Ennea/Igol Ferrari F40 GTE with Bernard and Belmondo. • Le Mans 24hrs, retired in an Ennea/Igol Ferrari F40 GTE with Bernard and Belmondo. • Philippe Charriol Supersport Trophy, 2nd overall in a Lamborghini Diablo. • Andros Trophy, 4th place in the Chamonix 24hrs in a works Seat.
1997	• FIA GT Championship, =11th overall, 22 points in a Gulf Team Davidoff McLaren BMW F1 GTR with Raphanel and Olofsson. • Andros Trophy, 2 starts, 1 win in a Daewoo Nexia.
1998	• FIA GT Championship, =9th overall, 17 points in a Persson Motorsport Mercedes-Benz CLK-GTR with Tiemann. • Le Mans 24hrs, retired in an AMG Mercedes-Benz CLK-LM with Zonta and Bouchut.
1999	• Sports Racing World Cup, 6 starts, =6th overall, 80 points, 4 wins in a DAMS Lola B98/10 Judd with Bernard. • American Le Mans Series, 4 starts, =40th overall, 26 points in a DAMS Lola B98/10 Judd with Tinseau and Montagny. • FIA GT Championship, 1 start in a Belmondo Chrysler Viper GTS-R with Widmann. • Le Mans 24hrs, DNS in an AMG Mercedes-Benz with Webber and Tiemann. • Andros Trophy, 2 starts in a Mega Club Aixam Mega with various drivers.
2000	• American Le Mans Series, 12th overall, 153 points in a Team Schnitzer BMW V12 with Auberlen. • Le Mans 24hrs, retired in a Bscher Promotions BMW V12 LM98 with Bscher and Lees.
2001	• FIA World Sportscar Championship, =9th overall, 50 points, 1 win in a BMS Scuderia Italia Ferrari 333SP with M. Zadra, and a Kremer Lola B98/K2001 Ford with Hancock. • Lamborghini Super Trophy, 1 start.

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