Jules Gounon has been announced as a Mercedes-AMG factory driver for the 2021 and 2022 seasons, joining Daniel Juncadella as newcomers to the Stuttgart marque’s driver line-up.
Gounon and Juncadella will be part of a eight-driver squad which includes Maximilian Buhk, Maro Engel, Maximilian Götz, Thomas Jäger, Raffaele Marciello and Luca Stolz.
26- year-old Gounon joins Mercedes-AMG after three years as a factory driver for Bentley M-Sport. During his tenure with the British manufacturer, Gounon, alongside teammates Jordan Pepper and Maxime Soulet, won the 2020 Liqui Moly Bathurst 12 Hour.
Gounon expressed his delight at joining Mercedes-AMG when he announced on social media:
“I’m very proud and honoured to announce to you that I have been signed for the next two years as an exclusive factory driver for Mercedes-AMG.
“I’m very happy to be part of the very successful AMG family and ready to take part in this next chapter in my career.
“My different racing programmes will be announced later. Thanks everyone for your continued support. It means a lot to me.”
Head of Mercedes-AMG Customer Racing, Stefan Wendl, said:
“This year, we can rely on an excellent driver line-up again. I am convinced that, like this, we are supporting our teams in the best possible way for their worldwide racing activities and can be in a position to win at any time.
“The goal is to win championship titles on all continents and to run at the front in the 24-hour highlights in particular, as we were already able to prove especially at Daytona.”
Gounon’s programme for 2021 will be announced in the near future.