Jules Gounon has set proper publicity for Team Emil Frey – That’s why Arthur Rougier has been driving for the Lamborghini team since the 2021 season
“I spoke to Jules Gounon”, this is how the story of Frenchman Arthur Rougier, who ventured into the ADAC GT Masters together with Team Emil Frey in 2022, begins. The former formula racing talent has already switched to GT racing for the 2020 season and found the team from Switzerland in 2021 for the GT World Challenge.
“I raced in the French GT Championship for a year after my Formula racing days,” says the current Lamborghini driver. “That was the only thing I could manage at the time. After that, I talked a lot with Jules. We have the same manager with Bastien Ostian. I already knew Jules and Bastien. We started talking during the COVID period when I was in the simulator with Jules.”
“I knew him a bit before and then we got to know each other a bit better. Then, in the winter, I went on an Emil Frey shootout test in Valencia. That went well and we agreed a deal,” Rougier explains his entry into the team. Then it was off to the GT World Challenge and Intercontinental GT Challenge for the now 22-year-old.
GT instead of formula racing because of the costs
The plan was actually to take the typical formula racing route and aim for Formula 1. That’s why Rougier raced in the French Formula 4 championship in his early years, where he won the title in 2017. However, the then Renault junior driver never dared to make the jump to Formula 3 or Formula 2.
“Formula racing is a difficult world,” he says. “Now it costs a lot to drive there. By winning the French Formula 4 title in 2017, I got a lot of money from the federation to continue in Formula Renault Eurocup. But I wasn’t in the team I wanted to be in at first. “
“Personally, it was a good year, but I didn’t have the opportunity to really fight at the top,” the Frenchman sums up. “And it was too expensive to continue in formula racing anyway. The money you have to put into it is so much. Even if Renault would have helped me for the following year, it was still too much. That was the right moment for me to make the move into GT racing. “
Next goal: factory driver status
But the young talent is not a factory driver, which is why he is not on the payroll of a car manufacturer so far. He currently drives a Lamborghini Huracan GT3 for Emil Frey, which could one day become his permanent job including salary. “That’s the goal, of course,” the youngster clarifies. “Last year I was already in the Lamborghini Junior Programme and won it. “
That’s why I got a lot of help from Lamborghini for this year to be in the best possible situation in the ADAC GT Masters,” Rougier describes his path. “Together with Franck [Perera] we have a good line-up and in a good team. So Lamborghini is really giving me a great chance to do well this year and they are also helping me in the GT World Challenge Endurance Cup.”
“Last year I was in Lamborghini’s junior programme and I won the Shootout at Vallelunga,” Rougier recalled. “Now I have a lot of support from Lamborghini to do well this year. For sure, the goal is to be a factory driver one day.” To achieve that, it’s now a case of scoring successes. In the ADAC GT Masters, the 22-year-old has one second and one third place so far in the 2022 season.
Big races and titles in his sights
“First of all, my goal is to get a factory contract and to stay in the strongest championships, so in the GT World Challenge in the Sprint and Endurance Cup and in the ADAC GT Masters,” said Rougier about his goals. “Let’s see what else the future holds in racing. There’s also Le Mans, because GT3 cars will soon be racing there too.”
“The big races” are on the list for the young Frenchman, who has his sights set on taking wins and titles with Lamborghini. “But the start of the season wasn’t so easy for us, so things aren’t looking so good for us now,” he admits. “But we are still in the mix. Winning a big championship like the ADAC GT Masters would be a goal, and also winning the Bathurst 12h or the Spa 24h or Le Mans.”
Perhaps that could also be the jump into Lamborghini’s LMDh project, which could catapult Rougier into the top category of prototype racing. “I don’t know,” he clarifies. “At the moment I’m really focused on GT racing. I want to stay in GT racing and see how it goes there. Certainly it’s in the back of my mind somewhere, but I’m not really focused on that at the moment. My focus is on GT racing and I want to stay in GT racing with Lamborghini for now and then we can always see later. “
