Corvette driver Gounon: I'm living my dream in the ADAC GT Masters

• Newcomer Gounon: Two wins in six ADAC GT Masters races
• Son of ex-Formula 1 driver and sports car ace Jean-Marc Gounon
• Frenchman in only his fourth season in motor racing

Munich: A newcomer from France is lining up in the ADAC GT Masters. After only six races in the Super Sports Car League, new signing Jules Gounon has already racked up two wins in the new Corvette C7 GT3 R along with Daniel Keilwitz. "Alles gut - c'est bon - good," said the Frenchman after his debut victory at the Sachsenring wishers. "Alles gut" - these are the only German words that the Frenchman has learnt so far. And yes indeed, Gounon has made a good start in the ADAC GT Masters.

Gounon has a name to live up to. He is the son of a successful racing driver, just like title defenders Luca Ludwig and Sebastian Asch. Jean-Marc Gounon is the Corvette driver's father. He was formerly with Minardi and Simtek in Formula 1 and then became, among other things, one of the most famous Mercedes-Benz and BMW works drivers in the 1990s with twelve starts in the 24-Hours of Le Mans, driving GT cars and sports cars. Gounon Senior, however, put the brakes on his son's motor racing career for quite a long time: "I didn't want him to get into the cockpit of a racing car too early and told him that he would have to wait until he was 16 to get started. But he was very impatient and sat on me in bed one night and asked when he could finally go racing. It was 3:15 in the morning. I had to promise to let him go karting. I will never forget that moment."

Gounon subsequently went into karting and found his way to the ADAC GT Masters via the French Formula 4, Formula Renault and the Porsche Carrera Cup France. He came to Germany in March 2016: "My father introduced me to Ernst Wöhr, team principal at Callaway Competition. They had a seat free in the new Corvette. I had a good feeling about this right from the start, but they obviously wanted me to do some testing first." Gounon impressed Wöhr, who signed him. "The deal was eventually done a few days before the official ADAC GT Masters tests in Oschersleben," said Gounon. "So I didn't have much time to get acclimatised." Amazing, as Gounon went out and won what was only his third race in a 600-bhp GT3 racing car.

The second success for Gounon and Keilwitz followed their debut victory at the Sachsenring with a win during the Motorsport Festival at the Lausitzring. The Corvette duo are currently placed second in the standings with a three-point deficit on championship leaders, Connor De Phillippi & Christopher Mies, in the run-up to the next race at the Red Bull Ring (22nd - 24th July). Gounon pays no heed to their strong start to the season and has his feet firmly planted on the ground. "I take each race as it comes and try to avoid looking at the overall standings. I'm getting on really well with the Corvette. I have a great team and a fast team-mate - I'm living my dream in the ADAC GT Masters. I could hardly believe my eyes when I first saw the list of entries: Winkelhock, Abt, Mies, Sandström, Vanthoor - all my GT3 idols. I was so excited. And now, I'm actually going up against these guys out on track."

Fans wishing to experience the ADAC GT Masters live at the racetrack can purchase tickets for all fixtures for the price of 20 euros, which includes access to the paddock, from www.adac.de/motorsport.