The list of successes notched up by the Franco-German pairing is quite impressive. Thanks to a win, a second and a third place, Gounon (22, F) and Keilwitz (27, DEU, both Callaway Competition) have claimed podiums in three of the six races of the Super Sports Car League held so far. Having accrued 80 points in all, they are 19 points up on their closest rivals, BMW team-mates Ricky Collard (20, GB) and Philipp Eng (27, A, both BMW Team Schnitzer) in the run-up to the next meeting at Zandvoort (21st -23rd July) ).
And yet, the season began with a setback for the Callaway team when Gounon finished the first race at Oschersleben in the gravel due to a puncture after a contact with a fellow competitor. “It was disappointing, because we could have secured a good haul of points,” said the Frenchman. “But we hit back with second place on Sunday. We got the maximum that was possible during the next round at the Lausitzring with P4 and P5. The following weekend in Spielberg was really terrific with a win and a third place. I had an amazing scrap with Lucas Auer on Saturday, and it was great to be able to go up against such a strong driver.”
Gounon is full of praise for his outfit: “Callaway Competition are doing a sensational job. Every team member does the work of two. Not only are the team developing the Corvette C7 GT3-R themselves, they are also fielding the car with a fraction of the budget that other teams have. We’ve only had a few test sessions too so far as well. The team are like a second family to me. I’m very grateful to my team bosses, Ernst Wöhr and Giovanni Ciccone, for the trust they’ve placed in me, and I have the ideal team-mate in Daniel Keilwitz.”
The French driver, who also heads the standings in the junior rankings for drivers under 25, thinks that the level in the ADAC GT Masters has increased yet again since 2016. Gounon: “We’ve had six different winners in the first six races, which shows how evenly matched drivers in the Super Sports Car League are. It was really quite tough to win last year, but the series is now even more competitive thanks to teams like Schnitzer and Mücke, who are new to the ADAC GT Masters, and to returnees like HTP. However, I’m much more experienced compared to 2016 and now know all the tracks, so I’m far more self-confident.”
The son of ex-Formula 1 driver Jean-Marc Gounon feels optimistic about the rest of the season. “We’ll take each race as it comes and then see where we stand in the end. The goal is not to make any mistakes and secure as many points as possible in all the races. However, it’s not the case that we have a chance of finishing on the podium at every circuit. We’ll have to wait and see about Zandvoort. Actually, the track doesn’t really suit us, but we’re pinning our hopes on the new tarmac covering which should be more to our liking. The Nürburgring is probably the one that suits us the least, but then the Sachsenring, where we won in 2016, and Hockenheim will again be better for us. We’ll certainly give it all we’ve got, as ever.”
Source : www.adac-gt-masters.de
Comments
