Bondurant was one of two drivers (alongside Graham Hill) to help extricate Jackie Stewart from his fuel-leaking wrecked car during the 1966 Belgian Grand Prix, the incident that led to Stewart's crusade for motor racing safety. We damn near blew him off the box but he gives us this great big French salute. Jack Brabham spun, Rindt spun twice, Bob worked his way through the spinning field driving a masterful race considering his handicap, and finished Ninth. By 14, he owned his first Indian motorcycle, and after the devastating death of his mother at 16 years old, he started racing flat track and even bigger Indians and Harleys. He finished the Formula One season in North America in two races, driving an Eagle for Dan Gurney's Anglo American Racers. A statement on his passing reads, in part, "Bondurant is the only American. The car you see here isnt an original GT40, its a replica built by ERA GT for Bondurant in the same specification and livery of the car he drove at Daytona in 1965. It was in October 1965 that Bob drove a V-8powered Formula 1 Ferrari for the North American Racing Team entered by Luigi Chinetti, the U.S. Ferrari distributor. By the mid-1950s he was racing on four wheels in a British Morgan before switching to a Corvette and winning theWest Coast B Production Championship, taking victory in 18 out of 20 races. "Bob Bondurant has had a worldwide impact on the motorsports industry, and his legacy will live on eternally as the Bondurant Racing School moves forward into the future," Phoenix Raceway President Julie Giese said in a statement. His mothers death left him inconsolable, which is where the seed of his fearlessness was realized. Bondurant is survived by his wife, Pat, who is president and CEO of the Bondurant Racing School. "A buddy's mother would go to the movies every Thursday night. His Bob Bondurant School of High Performance Driving has been responsible for training generations of American racing drivers. I am leaving because I have to take a stand. He was 88. . He didn't have the money to fix it but his motorcycle mechanic friend Don who built the hot motor for his 101 Scout came to the rescue. The walkout, he claimed, included all of the employees at work that day26 including the night shift. Bondurants ERA GT40 is now being offered for sale on Bring A Trailer, it has just ~7,000 miles on the odometer and its being sold out of Chandler, Arizona. Were confident that once all of the legal matters are behind us and the school emerges from the restructuring, the truth will be told through the proper channels.. It featured a 15-turn, 1.6-mile road course, an eight-acre asphalt pad for advanced training with more than 100 race-prepared vehicles, sedans, and open-wheel cars. [5] Bob Bondurant's copyrighted method taught competition driving . As a resulting worse-case scenario, the schools assets were sold off in 2019. The CSX2345 had innovative, distinctive features including wider front fender flares, cutback doors, and a tilt-back windshield to reduce drag. Later that month while driving a McLaren, at Watkins Glen, the steering arm broke at 150mph approaching the Loop-Chute section of Watkins Glen (the current Turn 5, but without the bus stop, which was installed in 1992). Were working through the proper legal channels to make the best choices for the long-term health and success of the school. The other dealers weren't racing like we were. April 10, 2022 | Fort Lauderdale, FL | Friend. Bondurant Racing School was founded in 1968 and has graduated celebrities for car movies like James Garner, Paul Newman, Tom Cruise, Nicolas Cage, and Christian Bale, along with over 500,000 graduates from around the world. "My mom and dad had divorced, then mom died when I was 16. "Bob is under care in an assisted facility," Pat Bondurant said, "but. Graham Hill won the event in a BRM. Now thats doing your business in luxury. Hetrained the films lead actor, James Garner, to drive Formula cars in the race sequences. A buddy had a car so we towed it with a rope around a corner to my house and the rear wheels came off. When the transporter to take Bob's car to the circuit didn't arrive, it was decided that Bob should drive the Ferrari to the track. ), "I had never been to Europe before so it was exciting to be able to race there," Guildstrand continues. Bondurant once said, My life has been lived in two halves. Bob and I are deeply saddened by the negative rumors that have been published around the Schools recent Chapter 11 filing, the statement from Pat Bondurant read. I moved to Bishop, California, where I was living with my Aunt Ella. "They had a used car lot there, Don worked on the cars and I sold used Corvettes. Bondurant won a world championship while racing for Carroll Shelby. While recuperating from a race car crash, he came up with the idea of a high-performance driving school. Bob Bondurant, 88, has had some health concerns over the last few years and has stepped back a bit from the business. "What a great feeling," was Bob's comment on the occasion. Bob had trouble seeing but by turning his face into the wind, the goggles would stay pressed against his face as long as he kept one finger on them while shifting with his other hand and grabbing the steering with his knees. Always in the back of his mind was going to Santa Barbara to watch the sports cars races, so Bob decided to try racing sports cars. That's when other car owners took notice of Bob's driving ability. Its a car that was developed to be indistinguishable from the original, despite the fact that it has a stronger chassis, a more heavy duty body, and even optional air-conditioning. Silodrome was founded in 2010 as a website dedicated to Gasoline Culture and all it entails - We write about modern cars, classic cars, motorcycles, racing, gear, gadgets, clothing, boats, planes, airships and the occasional submarine.Read more Silodrome 2023. all rights reserved. Everybody said, Were leaving under our own accord. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in any form without prior authorization. That's how I learned to ride motorcycles," Bob laughs. The next thing you know, he's driving a Cobra down a dark straightaway at 190-plus mph in France, not once, but for hours. His racing career began to soar in 1959, when he drove a Corvette in the Southern California region to the West Coast "B . Bob's father owned a car dealership that sold fast cars in nearby Chicago; very fast carsCords to be exact. 2021-2022 Bondurant Racing School. "We still finished 17th, we were that far ahead," Guildstrand laughs. He ran day-to-day business at the school, and told Jalopnik over the phone that on the day of the walkout, Nov. 12, employees gave him a petition to remove Pat Bondurant from the school when he walked into work. In the same year he drove a works Ferrari Formula 1 car during the United States Grand Prix at Watkins Glen, and handled a Lotus 33 for Reg Parnell at the following Mexican race. If my dad was mentally there like he was [then], we would have never gotten to this place. Is a Ram 1500 TRX the Ideal Winter Vehicle? He offered Bob a full Ford sponsorship of cars, parts, and marketing until 2003. Carol Bondurant (wife of G.T. Bob Bondurant, a former champion race car driver who opened a high-performance driving school in 1968 and taught numerous A-list actors for their movie roles, has died. Only four have returned since, he said. We invite you to share . Articles that Ben has written have been covered onCNN, Popular Mechanics, Smithsonian Magazine,Road & Track Magazine,the official Pinterest blog, theofficialeBay Motorsblog, BuzzFeed, Autoweek Magazine, Wired Magazine, Autoblog, Gear Patrol, Jalopnik, The Verge, and many more. I had learned how to ride the bike by now. When Pat Bondurant threw the petition from employees at Jason Bondurant on Nov. 12, he claimed, he typed out a resignation letter and told fellow employees what was going on. American racing legend Bob Bondurant has passed away aged 88. He initially approached Porsche for backing, but was temporarily declined due to the uncertainty of this being a new school. [1][2][3]. Power is provided by a period-correct The 289 cubic inch Ford V8 mated to a ZF five-speed manual transaxle, and as you would expect suspension is independent all around with disc brakes front and back. Bob's first entry into Formula 1 was one that almost took his life in the ill-fated ATS Grand Prix Car he was about to drive on one of the deadliest tracks in racingMonza. The document said the primary factor was the schools inability to pay rent in September without jeopardizing its ability to do payroll and expenses, and others were a training contract from the U.S. government canceled with little warning, inconsistent payments from primary sponsors Dodge and Fiat, Dodge requiring the school to return its Vipers for safety and regulatory reasons, and a potential investor agreement that hasnt been reached yet. From the professional race track to the big screen, Bob Bondurant, for more than 50 years, has trained anyone with a drivers license and a set of keys to handle any vehicle at extremely high speeds by combining the oft-chased union of precision, safety and self-confidence. Bob's father bounced back, becoming a surgical instrument sale representative once in California. Bob Bondurant was one of the most successful American racing drivers of his era, he also coached a slew of celebrities This is Bob Bondurant at Riverside Raceway with the Shelby GT350 Mustang prototype for testing in 1965. Within a few years Bondurant had become one of the most promising drivers on the West Coast, between 1961 and 1963, he won 30 out of 32 races driving Corvettes for Santa Barbara Chevrolet dealer Shelly Washburn. He participated four times at 24 Hours of Le Mans, finishing best in 1964 in the fourth place overall, and . After he regained consciousness, Bob crawled out of the ravine, saw the hole in the hedge where the car went throughit was sitting with the windscreen and rollbar sheared off. "It wouldn't idle under 70 mph. When he made the decision to leave, he said, other employees went with him. She had a Chrysler. America's iconic World Champion Bob Bondurant has passed away in Paradise Valley, Arizona. Between 1961 and 1963, he won 30 out of 32 races in Washburn's Corvettes. The allegations revolve around Pat Bondurant, the schools president of eight years, CEO since 2017 and wife of founder Bob Bondurant. The Bob Bondurant School of High Performance Driving was an American performance driving school, specializing in instruction for high performance driving, teen defensive driving, law enforcement and special forces driving, open wheel race car training, Grand Prix road racing, drag racing, go karts, and other courses using the copyrighted Bondurant Method. I checked the board to see where I qualified; I wasn't on the Novice board. The Bob Bondurant School of High Performance Driving was the largest purpose-built driving school in the world. The ERA GT uses a bespoke chassis closely based on the design of the original except its made from thicker gauge stainless steel to protect it against rusting. Tim Rose, the former general manager of the school, also told the abovestory to Jalopnik. How many sharing the road with Bob that day did double takes to make sure they saw what they thought they saw? Gregory was at Monza instructing Bob on the difficult course. "I did a jump on my bike and the springer fork came off and I went end-over-end, put the fork back together, and rode home. The name Bob Bondurant is synonymous with the Shelby Cobra. Something went wrong. You can call it character, you can call it determination, or you can just call it guts. There was a lot of fiberglass flying.". The land limitations only allowed Bob to put the small version of his dream training facility in Chandler, Arizona at Firebird Raceway,[5] now known as Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park. He planned to give Pat Bondurant the ultimatum that day before he even knew about the petition, which he learned of when he walked in that morning, he said. Robert L. Bondurant (April 27, 1933 - November 12, 2021) was an American racecar driver who raced for the Shelby American, Ferrari, and Eagle teams. Bob Bondurant, Transportation Department: Grand Prix. Jason Bondurant said one of the more hampering parts of working at the school was how badly things were going when he felt like there was a solution to the math problem the whole time. Bob Bondurant stepped back from the schools daily operations because he wanted to do the fun stuff later in life, Jason Bondurant said. This team, driven to exceed all expectations, set out to bring the most exhilarating, inspiring, school of high-performance driving to motor sports fans around the world. "I talked my mom into letting me get a '32 Chevy roadster when I was in junior high; at 14 you could get a Junior Operating License. Bob Bondurant stepped back from the school's daily operations because he wanted to do "the fun stuff" later in life, Jason Bondurant said. This was an important race for the GT40 as it was the models first international victory, with GT40s finishing 1st and 3rd. There were also claims of derogatory comments about employees, pressure not to hire too attractive of women [sic], withholding important information from employees, and outright racism by Pat Bondurant, according to the report. Copyright 2021 Associated Press. INSIGHT: Has Alonso finally landed on another winner? After 50 years, the Bondurant brand has risen to prominence on the international racing stage, our best measurement for victory has become our own stunning success. Certainly Bob's life was altered for the better as he was a bona fide Californian now going to Union High School in Westwood. For the early part of the past year, it appeared that a sorry end awaited the school that had been founded by Robert L. Bondurant, a world champion racer, in 1968 in Orange County, California,. He was 88. He was one of a handful of Americans to compete in the Formula 1 Grand Prix series, and also raced at Le Mans. Bondurant, a member of 10 racing Hall of Fame classes, founded the driving school in 1968. On Popular Bio, He is one of the successful Formula One Driver. [2] In 1990 a purpose-built training facility was opened in Chandler, Arizona. (You can judge by this account how quickly the safety crews got to Bob.) The Bob Bondurant School of High Performance Driving was initially opened by World Champion and ten time hall of fame inductee Bob Bondurant at the Orange County International Raceway near Los Angeles, CA under the Bob Bondurant School of High Performance Driving name. "I went to the Cal Club (California Sports Car Club) and said I wanted to go racing. Right now, Bondurant's class sizes are about 60 percent full,. He is survived by his wife Pat. ), "We got there two days before the race and the GT 40 Ford guys opened up their great big trailers and let us use the machine shop to make stuff and weld they had a huge effort. Racer Media & Marketing, Inc., 17030 Red Hill Avenue, Irvine, CA 92614, 949.417.6700 In 1965, Bob Bondurant takes the wheel of a Ferrari Formula 1 race car during the US Grand Prix. They might all wish to tip their hats to the founder, Robert Lewis Bondurant, who died Nov. 12 in Paradise Valley, Ariz., at the age of 88. The first was becoming a world champion driver. In lieu of flowers the family requests donations be made to the Team USA Scholarship: jshaw@teamusascholarship.org. The ClassicCars.com Journal report has more examples of specific allegations of Pat Bondurants conduct at the school, several of which were also confirmed to Jalopnik via email. Bondurant's story is well-known to racing fans and driving enthusiasts, how the champion driver had worked his way up from motorcycle competition to racing Cobras and Daytonas at Le Mans for Carroll Shelby's team, among his many accomplishments. Its sad.. Bondurant was actively at the track every day, enthusiastically greeting his new students until he was well over 85 years old. He'd fallen out of the car! The walkout came just one month after the schools October bankruptcy filing and caused an abrupt but temporary closure, which the new head of the school called a disruption in service. But former employees claim it was far worse than that. When Bob wasnt using the car on track it was stabled in the Bondurant Museum, where it was seen by countless thousands of visitors over the years. Bob should be an inspiration to anyone who has a dream he followed his. Of course it would take some laps before he would build his confidence not to lift. Lying in the hospital bed with broken bones didn't break his desire to get back on track, in more ways than one. According to his family and the Bondurant Racing School website, Bondurant died Friday in the Phoenix suburb of Paradise Valley. Bob won 18 out of 20 races in 1959 in the '57, which smartly won Bob the "B" Production Championship and "Best Corvette Driver of the Year" in 1959. November 14, 2021 9:30 AM, By RACER Staff | I bought it for $40. When Ontario Motor Speedway opened in 1970, Bob moved his school to the $25 million complex, but the track's troubled management forced him to then move to Sears Point, north of Frisco, which he outgrew, then finally to Firebird International Raceway in Chandler, Arizona. Legendary American racing driver Bob Bondurants name will be forever linked with the Ford GT40, a car he drove at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1965, helping the team win theInternational Championship for GT Manufacturers. 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