There was drama for Winward Mercedes driver Jules Gounon in Saturday’s season-opening DTM race on the Purple Bull Ring.
The Frenchman was chasing race chief chief Thomas Preining and was even closing in on the “Grello” Porsche when, 5 laps from the top, a spectacular plume of smoke out of the blue appeared from the right-rear wheel, forcing him out of the race – and leaving him extraordinarily annoyed.
“It is simply annoying me as a result of the previous few years I did not have a lot luck,” he stated. “I do not consider in luck, however I labored tremendous arduous through the winter. I made plenty of selections in my life that had been troublesome to take.
“I modified plenty of stuff to attempt to come again.”
And certainly, victory was inside attain for the ‘Mamba’ driver. “All the trouble, all of the sacrifices you make over winter, they’re lastly unfolding collectively.
“Then I exited the final nook, the steering was to the left, and I used to be like, ‘OK, I am fairly positive it is completed’.”
Gounon pointed to a suspension challenge because the trigger for his stoppage at Flip 1.
“The day was superb after which I had a suspension failure,” he revealed. “So, 5 laps to the top. I do not know, generally it is simply horrible.”
It was not the primary time a Mercedes-AMG GT3 suffered a suspension-related failure at Spielberg. Final 12 months, Lucas Auer additionally stopped throughout free follow with smoke popping out of his automotive. The trigger again then was a defect within the wheel service.
A full evaluation of Gounon’s downside was not potential till after 5pm on Saturday as a consequence of parc ferme laws. Afterward, the group discovered that, as suspected, a suspension part had damaged.
Why Gounon out of the blue fought for victory
Whereas the 31-year-old didn’t have an optimum qualifying within the morning and began solely from sixth place, his Mercedes colleagues Maro Engel and Auer certified on pole and third respectively.
Nonetheless, Gounon benefited from a robust begin that introduced him as much as fourth, a mediocre pit stops for his Mercedes team-mates, in addition to the timing of personal pitstop, and out of the blue discovered himself inside placing distance of the lead.
“The technique was nice, the whole lot was mega,” he stated.
“I used to be feeling good, I used to be even closing a bit on Thomas. I used to be saving for the top to attempt to assault.”
However what modifications did Gounon make over the winter? Based on Motorsport.com’s sister title Motorsport-Whole.com, he acquired new mechanics at Winward.
Gounon, who confirmed his velocity repeatedly in his first DTM season final 12 months however continues to be chasing his first win, lamented the lack of 20 factors.
“It’s at all times about two or three factors ultimately,” he saud.
“So, yeah, 20 factors, it is like this. I can not change now.”
“If you see final 12 months, yearly, it is preventing for 2, three factors on the finish of the championship. So if you lose 20 like that, it hurts.”
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