Interviews of Roman Klemm

JEAN-MARC GOUNON: If you want to get into F1 without money, you have to know how to lie

Words and pictures: Roman Klemm

When those who remember hear the name Jean-Marc Gounon, they think of Roland Ratzenberger's tragic accident at Imola in 1994 and the fact that Gounon "is the one who drove for Simtek after Ratzenberger's death". When we coincidentally met in Imola, 31 years after that black weekend, we naturally talked mainly about the 1994 season, which the Frenchman spent with Nick Wirth's team...

Your first chance in Formula 1 came at the end of the 1993 season, when Christian Fittipaldi "threw in the towel” at Minardi? 

Yes, but it was a rather hasty move. It was simply an opportunity to get into F1 that I didn't want to miss. Minardi was "grinding on the last bit”, like all small teams at the end of the year, and focused on their number-one-driver Martini. The contribution of my team sponsors made it possible for them to participate in the last races. In Suzuka, I was stopped by a broken engine and in Adelaide, I went off when I wanted to make room for Prost. In retrospect, I probably shouldn't have done it, but show me a driver who would have turned down the opportunity to debut in a Grand Prix?

But the planning of your 1994 was already underway?

I wanted to drive a full season, but difficulties arose. I was one of the drivers sponsored by Marlboro France, but they had cut their budget significantly. And what was left, they invested in Jean Alesi, who was at Ferrari at the time. My other long-term sponsor was the state, the department of Ardeche. Up until then, they had been supporting me with a ridiculous summ of around 20,000 Euros a year and for a long time they didn't want to make big investments in F1 either. That's why the 1994 season started without me having an F1 cockpit. I signed with Hughues de Chaunac's BMW team for the touring car championship. We talked to several F1 teams, but most notably Nick Wirth, who had just founded the new Simtek team. At the beginning of the year, we learned that their number two, Ratzenberger, only had a contract and money for the first three races. So there was a realistic chance of taking his place.

So you signed the Simtek contract before Ratzenberger died? 

Yes. We lost a bit of time then because I had to get out of the contract with BMW, which I had signed, because I had to make a living somehow. We agreed that I could start for Simtek from the French GP at the beginning of July. The financing of the deal was rather special and the state helped a bit: Wirth had his chassis manufactured by SNPE, which was owned by the state. They arranged indirect support by having SNPE produce three or four monocoques for Simtek for free and I was allowed to drive in return! The intercession of Mike Earl, my former F3000 team boss, also helped a lot.

How did you deal with the fact that you would be racing in a car that "fell apart” and killed its driver at Imola? 

I had absolutely no problem with that. I knew the reality: The new Simtek S941 neither "fell apart nor killed Roland.” Analysis of his last run at Imola clearly showed that he had probably broken the front spoiler on the kerb at Variante Alta. This defective part then simply snapped at full speed and under enormous load on the straight towards the Tosa corner. It had nothing to do with the design or preparation of the car. It was the result of a driver error.

And the reaction of the people around you? 

On the tragic weekend of the San Marino Grand Prix, we were with our Touring Car Championship in Magny Cours. Everyone knew that I had signed with Simtek and they tried to talk me into not getting into that car. 

What was your first impression of the Simtek team? 

It was complicated. I went with them as guest to Barcelona, ??where I was not yet allowed to drive because of my contract with BMW. The mood among the mechanics was still very bad.  Ratneberger's death was just a few weeks ago. Only Nick Wirth kept the team together with his enthusiasm. And then there was the terrible accident of Montermini in "my car"...

During the 1994 season, did you ever get the impression or experience that the Simtek team prepared the car carelessly? 

Not at all. We were slow because we lacked money, but Wirth prepared the cars very well within his means. He only had mechanics that I already knew from F3000, but Eddie Jordan didn't start in Formula 1 any other way. I was never afraid that something might break. 

You then drove alongside Simteks number one David Brabham for seven races. How do you evaluate your 1994 season? 

Standing at the start of my home Grand Prix in Magny Cours was the realization of my dream. I reached the finish line and it was my best result ever. Although 4 laps behind the winner Schumacher, but as 9th I was even in the top 10! Today, points are awarded for such a result and I would probably be celebrated as the new Weltmeister - but back then only the first six scored points and such a result was not worth a mention.

You didn't get a similar finish that year... 

Unfortunately not. Our main problem was the engines. We had the same Fords in the car that Tom Walkinshaw used in his Jaguars in the World Endurance Championship! Can you imagine? On the straights it was like I was parking... 

You still finished 11th in Spa, but you didn't finish the season with Simtek... 

The key moment was the race in Monza. Imagine that in practice we were 48 km/h slower than the frontrunners. It went so far that Wirth got some F3 rear spoilers from some guy from Dallara and fitted them for us for Sunday. In the race, I drove like on ice in the Ascari chicane and the car was such a handfull that I almost eliminated Coulthard. He overtook me a few meters after the chicane and gave me the "finger". That was enough for me. I immediately went to the pits, parked my car and told Wirth that I wasn't going to make a fool of myself anymore. After that I only drove for him in Estoril, but only because it was paid for. That was the end of the Simtek chapter for me.

Did you have a realistic hope of continuing in F1? 

It seemed that way. Jackie Oliver from Arrows approached me. He said that Gianni Morbidelli had run out of money and that he would be interested. I told him straight out that I would give my life for one race in his car. But it didn't help. Morbidelli suddenly "found" the money and I was out of the race. Oliver probably only used me as a means of putting pressure on the Italian - and it worked. 

In the 1991 and 1992 seasons you were 6th overall in the F3000 championship and you can look back on a full dozen starts in the 24 hours of Le Mans. What was the best moment of your active career..? 

Probably the fact that I can talk to you here in Imola today (laughs). No, seriously: It's just nice to be able to say that I drove in Formula 1. The way I tried to do it probably wasn't optimal and with today's experience I would do it differently. But I'm still happy.

What did you learn from that and what would you do differently? 

One thing is clear to me now. If you don't have money and still want to go to F1, you have to be able to lie! There were only two types of drivers in Formula 1: those who really had it and those who just lied and pretended... 

Your son is now a leading GT driver and drives for Alpina in the WEC. Are you happy with him? 

Very much! He did exactly what I wanted. I didn't push him into the sport and he didn't even sit in a kart until he was 15. After what I experienced in single-seaters, I tried to convince him that it was better to start in classes where car manufacturers are involved and therefore you can make money there. His place with Alpine in the WEC and at the same time a place with Mercedes in the DTM are exactly what I wish for him.