Defending winner's Bathurst ambition
Jules Gounon has refused to get ahead of himself in his Bathurst 12 Hour defence.
Gounon will defend his 2020 LIQUI MOLY Bathurst 12 Hour victory this weekend.
Kenny Habul’s SunEnergy1 squad recruited Gounon, who is the son of the former racing driver Jean-Marc.
The Frenchman is the only one of the three who won the 2020 race who will take part.
Gounon won the 2020 race with Jordan Pepper and Maxime Soulet in an M-Sport Bentley.
The 27-year-old was behind the wheel when Bentley secured victory.
It marked Gounon’s biggest win since the 24 Hours of Spa in 2017.
Fast forward to May 2022, and Gounon is in Bathurst without Bentley, Pepper and Soulet.
While keen to race with Habul’s team, Gounon feels a sense of responsibility to his winning partners of 2020.
“If you’re not humble in life, you’ll get kicked pretty hard,” Gounon told Supercars.com.
“When you come back to this place, you need to respect the Mountain.
“I’m a bit sad that my teammates that I won with, Maxime and Jordan, can’t also defend their chance.
“I’m happy to be back, and I’m happy to be with Kenny Habul.
“We are sleeping in his house on Conrod Straight, so I feel the connection with Mount Panorama.
Gounon takes the flag in 2020
“It’s a place where every lap is different; every lap, you’re smiling under the helmet.”
Gounon and M-Sport celebrated wildly after the 2020 win; it will remain Bentley’s last 12 Hour win following the brand’s withdrawal.
It came after the car suffered a setback due to a puncture.
“It was unbelievable,” he said of the 2020 win.
“Bentley had been trying for so long to win, we’d been close but unlucky with punctures and stuff.
“When we got the puncture [in 2020] I was like, ‘Here we go again. We have a malediction’.
“It worked out well for us; the emotion of winning was huge.”
'The emotion of winning was huge'
Habul’s SunEnergy1 entry is one of 15 GT3 cars in the field.
Habul and Gounon will be joined by Martin Konrad and Luca Stolz.
The four drivers form one of four Pro-Am Mercedes entries; Mercedes-AMG last won the 12 Hour in 2013.
This year’s event seems set to be affected by weather, something Gounon is wary of ahead of Friday practice.
“We have a good chance, but there are many good cars,” Gounon said.
“Kenny’s a really strong amateur, he’s very talented. He has amazing car control.
“The main concern is the weather; normally when we come here, it’s hot.
“We will see; I’ve never driven the Mountain in the wet."
Tickets for the LIQUI MOLY Bathurst 12 Hour are on sale now.
