Relief for Mercedes-AMG works driver Jules Gounon: An examination this morning in his native Andorra found that he suffered only a minor injury to his left hand in the DTM Sunday race at the Sachsenring in his crash with Nicki Thiim.
"After the first checks at the Medical Center at the Sachsenring, I was able to travel back to Andorra, where I had some further examinations and an X Ray and MRI," he writes on Instagram. "Good news: Nothing is broken, just some bone bruising and little stuff."
The Winward driver was taken out by Thiim's Aston Martin and sustained such an unfortunate hit to the steering that he complained of pain and had to wear a splint. " For the next few days I've been told to take it easy and give my wrist some rest … which won't be easy for me," writes the 31-year-old, who lives in Andorra.
Why Engel's team-mate is missing the Hockenheim test
"See you in Fuji," Gounon adds - confirming that he will already be back on the grid at the next race of the World Endurance Championship (WEC) in Japan. The WEC weekend in Japan takes place from 25 to 27 September. That gives him a little over a week before his outing in the Alpine Hypercar.
However, the official DTM test for the season finale at the Hockenheimring takes place on 23 September, and according to information from Motorsport-Total.com, Gounon will not take part. But that has nothing to do with the hand injury, and is instead because of the trip to Japan.
The Winward team nevertheless wants to run both cars in the test, as the Mercedes-AMG squad and Engel go into the title decider as challengers to Manthey-Porsche driver Thomas Preining.
High-calibre replacement for Gounon?
"It has not yet been decided who will drive instead," a Mercedes-AMG spokeswoman tells Motorsport-Total.com when asked about the Hockenheim test. "But it will most likely be one of our Performance drivers who is available on Wednesday."
A logical candidate would be former DTM driver Luca Stolz, who was himself racing in the series until the end of 2024, took three wins and - as things stand - has no clashes. But wasn't Gounon also due to be in action this weekend at Zandvoort in the GT World Challenge Europe (GTWCE) Sprint series?
The son of former Formula 1 driver Jean-Marc Gounon most recently replaced Chris Lulham at Misano and Magny-Cours in the Mercedes-AMG Team 2 Seas entry running under the Verstappen Racing banner. However, Max Verstappen's British protégé is fit again next weekend and will make his comeback in the GTWCE Sprint series.
