Jules Gounon did it! The new Bathurst lap record is set by Mercedes, set in a special session held during the weekend of the Australian 12h which opens the 2024 season of the Intercontinental GT Challenge.
The House of the Star, which is celebrating 130 years of sporting activities in Oceania, has brought a modified version of its AMG GT3, equipped with a 6.2-litre V8 engine, aimed at maximum performance without restrictors, rear wing with DRS system, braking system in carbon, optimized aerodynamics with splitter different from the GT3 approved version, as well as side skirts and rear diffuser.
Gounon covered the 6,213km of the legendary Mount Panorama in 1'56″605 at an average speed of 191.82km/h, lowering the previous record set by a GT car of 2″074, on that occasion the Brabham BT62 driven by Matt Youlden.
Among other things, the Frenchman had already managed to go faster than the record during the Friday tests carried out to refine the set-up of his special car and this morning at 9.20am he succeeded in the feat.
Jules Gounon, Mercedes-AMG GT3, Bathurst 2024
Photo by: Mercedes AMG
“It was an amazing experience for me. Mount Panorama is one of the most beautiful circuits in the world and one of my absolute favorites. It's really special for me that I achieved three victories here, two of them with Mercedes. That that we achieved with our record-breaking car is really fantastic,” said Gounon as he got out of the vehicle.
“Everything seemed to go faster and with greater intensity. The cornering speeds of the tires are impressive, the background sound is simply spectacular. The record lap required everything from me, especially in the central sector, reaching over 240 km/ h across the skyline”.
“The car really comes into its own in corners and it takes a lot of effort to exploit this performance. Heartfelt congratulations to Pirelli and our engineers for this masterpiece. It was an honor for me to drive the special Mercedes-AMG GT3 on this memorable day” .
Jules Gounon, Mercedes-AMG GT3, Bathurst 2024
Photo by: Mercedes AMG
Christoph Sagemüller, Head of Mercedes-AMG Motorsport, added: “Jules had an incredible lap here on Mount Panorama! The GT3 racing cars have already shown impressive development over the last ten years and to demonstrate today on this iconic track what is possible to do with our AMG GT3 is a special achievement for us.”
“This race weekend also marks the start of our 130th anniversary in motorsport. The desire to compete, the passion for innovation and the pursuit of records have always been a central part of our DNA. This anniversary is the occasion perfect to revitalize this spirit with our record on the Mount Panorama circuit.”
“Our engineers also demonstrated what our famous Mercedes-AMG GT3 is capable of and did an exceptional job. This record is something we are very proud of as a brand. Thanks to everyone involved and of course to Jules, who achieved this phenomenal performance on the track.”
Below, here is the onboard video of the record achieved by Gounon with Mercedes.
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