Jean-Marc Gounon (born 1 January 1963) is a French

racing driver Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. Auto racing has existed since the invention of the automobile. Races of various sorts were organise ...

. He raced in

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

in and , participating in a total of 9 Grands Prix and scoring no championship points. He is the father of fellow racing driver

Jules Gounon Jules Gounon (born 31 December 1994 in Aubenas) is an Andorran-based French professional racing driver. He is best known for his victories in the 24 Hours of Spa in 2017 and 2022 and Bathurst 12 Hour in 2020 and 2022. Career 1994-2015: Youth i ...

Career

After winning the French

Formula 3 Formula Three, also called Formula 3, abbreviated as F3, is a third-tier class of open-wheel formula racing. The various championships held in Europe, Australia, South America and Asia form an important step for many prospective Formula One driv ...

Championship in 1989, Gounon moved into

International Formula 3000 The Formula 3000 International Championship was a motor racing series created by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) in 1985 to become the final preparatory step for drivers hoping to enter Formula One. Formula Two had become t ...

in 1990. He was the only man to win F3000 races in a non-

Reynard Reynard the Fox is a literary cycle of medieval allegorical Dutch, English, French and German fables. The first extant versions of the cycle date from the second half of the 12th century. The genre was popular throughout the Late Middle Ages, as ...

in 1991 and 1992, in a

RALT Ralt was a manufacturer of single-seater racing cars, founded by ex-Jack Brabham associate Ron Tauranac after he sold out his interest in Brabham to Bernie Ecclestone. Ron and his brother had built some specials in Australia in the 1950s under t ...

and

Lola Lola may refer to: Places * Lolá, a or subdistrict of Panama * Lola Township, Cherokee County, Kansas, United States * Lola Prefecture, Guinea * Lola, Guinea, a town in Lola Prefecture * Lola Island, in the Solomon Islands People * Lola (fo ...

respectively. He also became known for his quick starts, and might have had another win at

Enna Enna ( or ; grc, Ἔννα; la, Henna, less frequently ), known from the Middle Ages until 1926 as Castrogiovanni ( scn, Castrugiuvanni ), is a city and located roughly at the center of Sicily, southern Italy, in the province of Enna, towering ...

in 1991, but was controversially adjudged to have jumped the start in the era before electronic detection. In 1993 Gounon bought a two-race deal with

Minardi Minardi was an Italian automobile racing team and constructor founded in Faenza in 1979 by Giancarlo Minardi. It competed in the Formula One World Championship from 1985 until 2005 with little success, nevertheless acquiring a loyal followin ...

after

Christian Fittipaldi Christian Fittipaldi (born 18 January 1971) is a Brazilian former racing driver who has competed in various forms of motorsport including Formula One, Champ Car, and NASCAR. He was a highly rated young racing driver in the early 1990s, and parti ...

was dropped but he finished neither race, being withdrawn at Suzuka and spinning off in the season-closer, Adelaide's

1993 Australian Grand Prix The 1993 Australian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Adelaide on 7 November 1993. It was the sixteenth and final race of the 1993 Formula One World Championship. The 79-lap race was won by Ayrton Senna, driving a McLaren-Ford. In ...

. The next year Gounon benefited from

Andrea Montermini Andrea Montermini (born 30 May 1964) is an Italian racing driver. Career Montermini raced in Formula 3 in 1989, taking second place in the Monaco GP support race and 4th in the Italian F3 Championship. He then moved up to Formula 3000, racing ...

having broken his leg, and finished 9th for

Simtek Simtek (Simulation Technology) was an engineering consultancy firm and Formula One racing team. The Formula One (F1) engineering consultancy arm, Simtek Research, was founded in 1989 by Max Mosley and Nick Wirth. It originally was involved ...

at his home race, France (Simtek's joint best ever result). He raced in seven grands prix that season and qualified for all of them, being finally replaced after the Portuguese Grand Prix by the better-funded

Domenico Schiattarella Domenico "Mimmo" Schiattarella (born 17 November 1967) is an Italian racing driver. He participated in 7 Formula One Grands Prix for Simtek, debuting on October 16, 1994, and finishing when the team folded the next year. He scored no championsh ...

, ending his F1 career. Later in his career he went on to drive sports cars.

Racing record

Complete International Formula 3000 results

(

key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap.) † Driver did not finish, but was classified as he had completed more than 90% of the race distance.

Complete Formula One results

(

)

24 Hours of Le Mans results

References

Sources

Profile at www.grandprix.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gounon, Jean-Marc 1963 births Living people 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers 24 Hours of Spa drivers ADAC GT Masters drivers American Le Mans Series drivers European Le Mans Series drivers French Formula One drivers French Formula Three Championship drivers French racing drivers International Formula 3000 drivers Minardi Formula One drivers People from Aubenas Simtek Formula One drivers Sportspeople from Ardèche Aston Martin Racing drivers DAMS drivers Mercedes-AMG Motorsport drivers Oreca drivers David Price Racing drivers Epsilon Euskadi drivers FIA GT Championship drivers Audi Sport drivers BMW M drivers Pescarolo Sport drivers