Jean-Marc Gounon

Jean-Marc Andre Gounon (1 January 1963 - Present): French racing driver and father of fellow racer Jules Gounon. After starting in French Formula Renault in 1985, he won the French Formula 3 Championship in 1989 and moved to International F3000 in 1990, becoming the only driver to win F3000 races in non-Reynard chassis in 1991-1992, driving RALT and Lola respectively. His F1 career was brief and troubled, spanning 9 grands prix in 1993-1994 with no points scored. Originally signed to March for 1993, the team collapsed at season start.

He bought a two-race deal with Minardi after Christian Fittipaldi's departure but finished neither race, being withdrawn at Suzuka and spinning off at Adelaide. In 1994, he replaced the late Roland Ratzenberger at Simtek and later filled in for injured Andrea Montermini, but was replaced by Mimmo Schiattarella when his sponsorship ran out. Realizing his single-seater career had ended in 1995, Gounon switched to sports car racing, debuting at Le Mans that year. He forged a successful career with excellent performances in Ferrari and McLaren F1 GTR before joining the semi-works Persson Motorsport Mercedes CLK team.