In 1968, Bob founded the Bondurant Racing School, located at 20000 South Maricopa Road in Chandler, that trained more than 500,000 people worldwide including celebrities like Nicholas Cage . Bondurant is the only American to bring home the World Championship trophy back to the U.S. while racing for Carroll Shelby. For 1967 he drove in the CanAm series and in a Corvette L88 Coupe at Le Mans. (You can judge by this account how quickly the safety crews got to Bob.) He was finally reunited with his elusive GT40, and wow, did he have fun tracking this car for the next eight years!, Bob tracked this car at a Shelby reunion on the Fontana Raceway. 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. He is survived by his wife, Pat, president and CEO of the Bondurant Racing School, who vows to continue the legacy of Bob's school. He was 88. From the professional race track to the big screen, Bob Bondurant, for more than 50 years, has trained anyone with a driver's 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. This racing school is still going strong today and you can enroll for training here. Bondurant won a world championship while racing for Carroll Shelby. 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. While driving a McLaren at Watkins Glen, the car's steering arm fails at around 150 mph, which . His steering arm broke at 150mph, and, lying in traction at the hospital, he vividly remembers his conversation with God explaining to Bob that he was needed more on Earth and to start a driving and safety school to save thousands of lives of those otherwise dying on the highways and in motorsports. Bob Bondurant was born in Evanston, and moved to California with his family. Friday, November 12, 2021, the world lost an iconic American racing hero, Bob Bondurant. Still, more significantly, he won his last race in this very car at Pomona Raceway at the age of 79 and frequently tracked the car at his world-famous Bob Bondurant School of High Performance driving track. Bob Bondurant School of High Performance Driving. A man who made his F1 debut in a Ferrari no less and won Le Mans in a Shelby Cobra Daytona alongside Dan Gurney. ATS was formed by disenchanted team members who broke away from Ferrari, including Phil Hill. According to his family and the Bondurant Racing School website, Bondurant died Friday in the Phoenix suburb of Paradise Valley. 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. There was a Harley motorcycle shop near where I lived and they wanted to ride my James motorcycle and do wheelies with it. When he took the petition to Pat Bondurant, he told Jalopnik, she threw it at him and said, Fuck you. She did not respond to the individual allegations here or on ClassicCars.com Journal, with a representative for the school instead sending a statement similar to the one given to that outlet. ", Bob knew the circuit well, having raced Le Mans in 1964, winning the GT Class in a Ford Daytona Coupe with Dan Gurney. He also said employees stayed around for so long despite the alleged environment because he treated them like family., When the school filed for bankruptcy on Oct. 2, a statement said it planned to stay open and emerge from this [bankruptcy] process as a stronger company.. In lieu of flowers the family requests donations be made to the Team USA Scholarship: jshaw@teamusascholarship.org. "My mom and dad had divorced, then mom died when I was 16. The pair needed money to race so Bob and Don went to work for Peyton Cramer who owned Dana Chevrolet in South Gate, known for its high-performance Corvettes, as well Camaros. November 14, 2021 / 2:02 PM "I figured the ATS wasn't as fast as the Ferraris and after a few laps I began taking the corner flat-out at 150 mph. The family has requested privacy at this time. Bondurant had four NASCAR starts, all at Riverside International Raceway, with his highest finish of 18th in 1981. No one from the school, including Bob Bondurant himself, have issued a comment beyond the statement. Among the celebrities Bondurant instructed in road course driving for their movie roles were Paul Newman, Tom Cruise, Clint Eastwood, James Garner, Nicolas Cage, Robert Wagner, Tim Allen and Christian Bale, according to the website. As with the others, Pat Bondurant didnt respond directly to this allegation, but denied all of the allegations about school management. For 50 years, the Bondurant Racing Schoo l was a place where car enthusiasts and regular drivers could satisfy their need for speed on a closed track. He was one of a handful of Americans to compete in the Formula 1 Grand Prix series, and also raced at Le Mans. Located in the Catskills of New York, the Grand Prix was held at the "Glen" in 1961 and continued until 1980. "It wouldn't idle under 70 mph. He kept racing, too. That's when other car owners took notice of Bob's driving ability. Robert L. Bondurant (April 27, 1933 November 12, 2021) was an American racecar driver who raced for the Shelby American, Ferrari, and Eagle teams. The first was becoming a world champion driver. [3][4], The Bob Bondurant School of High Performance Driving was the largest purpose-built driving school in the world. Many Formula 1 drivers felt it was better to be thrown clear than be in the car when it crashed; in fact belts weren't mandatory until 1972. The Bondurant team graduated well over 500,000 students at his famous school, including Christian Bale, Paul Newman, Clint Eastwood, Nicolas Cage, and Tom Cruise, to name a few. Bob is the first and only American to bring the World SportsCar Championship trophy home to America in the legendary Shelby Daytona Coupe No. "Bob is under care in an assisted facility," Pat Bondurant said, "but. In Bob's case, not wearing a belt saved his life. Of course we're blowing dirt up in the air from the exhaust so you could see us coming. We started winning races. After all, he tutored the likes of actor James Garner during the filming in 1966 for his role in Grand Prix, and enjoyed passing on what he'd learned driving race cars to Rockford (who became a gifted race car driver in his own right), and the other actors in the film. If you leave, youre leaving on your own. Please check your entries and try again. What a career. [2] In 1990 a purpose-built training facility was opened in Chandler, Arizona. He said she appeared to avoid such language for a few weeks but made another remark after attending President Donald Trumps 2017 inauguration. He called me asking, 'Do you know how to drive?' Bob was a special man who radiated his love for God and his beautiful wife Pat. 72 ERA GT40. The Bondurant Racing School was founded in 1968 and has graduated celebrities for car movies like James Garner, Paul Newman, Tom Cruise, Nicholas Cage, and Christian Bale, along with over 500,000 graduates from around the world. Though there have been many replicas of the Ford GT40 made over the years, none have been superior to the ERA GT. 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. He said you buy the crank and I'll put the motor back together, and for every race you win I won't charge you. In 1966 Bondurant served as a technical consultant for John Frankenheimer's film Grand Prix and trained the film's lead actor James Garner to drive Formula cars in the race sequences. He raced motorcycles on dirt tracks as a teenager before switching to cars in 1958 and racing for the Shelby American, Ferrari and Eagle teams. The Bondurant team, along with many friends, fans, graduates, journalists, celebrities, an. For the 1964 FIA season after finishing 2nd in GT at Sebring, Bondurant was in Europe racing the new 289 FIA Cobras at the Targa Florio, Spa, and Nurburgring. The interior is an almost exact replica of the original, with the exception of the Bob Bondurant signature on the glovebox of course. Pat Bondurant, again, vehemently denied claims from the former employees about the management of the school. He won his class at Le Mans and has been inducted into 10 motorsports halls of fame. One little Gendarme (French police officer) was standing on a box directing cars at this traffic circle and saw us coming right at him in a cloud of dust you can imagine the noise. The Depression caused Mr.. [] Bob Bondurant, 1933-2021 RACER Advertisements [], [] and driving school founder Bob Bondurant died Friday in Paradise Valley, Arizona, at the age of 88, Racer has [], [] Bob Bondurant, iconic racer and performance driving mogul, passed away Friday in Paradise Valley, AZ. Bob Bondurant, champion driver and founder of the Bondurant Racing School, passed away Friday in Paradise Valley, Arizona, at the age of 88. They met at a Russo and Steele auction. Were working through the proper legal channels to make the best choices for the long-term health and success of the school. Bob Bondurant, a race car driver and actor who coached actors as diverse as James Garner, Clint Eastwood and Heather Locklear through their careers, died at the age of 88. Bondurant won a world championship while racing for Carroll Shelby. Bob Bondurant stepped back from the school's daily operations because he wanted to do "the fun stuff" later in life, Jason Bondurant said. He opened the school in early 1968 at California's Orange County International Raceway, then moved it to Ontario, California and later Sonoma, north of San Francisco. Answering the call, on February 14, 1968, Bob founded The Bob Bondurant School of High Performance Driving. Jack Brabham spun, Rindt spun twice, Bob worked his way through the spinning field driving a masterful race considering his handicap, and finished Ninth. From the age of 23 to 34, Bob became one of the most iconic race car drivers in the world. Legendary racecar driver Bob Bondurant's name is no longer on the school he started more than 50 years ago and moved to Chandler in 1990, but he and his family are looking to open a new high . They moved to Westwood Village, near Beverly Hills, when Bob was 3 years old. Here are a few of the claims, via the ClassicCars.com Journal, emphasis theirs: Multiple employees said Pat Bondurant made derogatory comments about people who lived in certain Phoenix suburbs. In the interim, Bob did get back on track (or the horse so to speak), knowing he had a growing business to fall back on should anything catastrophic happen again, entering a Can-Am race June 1970 driving a Chevy Lola T160. In response to the claims that employees feared they wouldnt get paid without Jason Bondurant or Arvizu, Shaffer told ClassicCars.com Journal Bondurant never missed or were late on a payroll, citing school records. After 12 laps Bob moved up to Eighth from his starting position of 14th on a completely wet track. Bob was racing at Riverside Raceway when the crank broke in the Vette. Bondurant, 88, passed away last week unexpectedly and leaves behind his wife Pat Bondurant. In 1966 his life would forever change the he was hired to serve as a technical consultant and driver trainer for the John Frankenheimer film Grand Prix. 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. I checked the board to see where I qualified; I wasn't on the Novice board. The allegations revolve around Pat Bondurant, the schools president of eight years, CEO since 2017 and wife of founder Bob Bondurant. (The two Yanks didn't realize the French national colors are blue, white, and red, which might have had something to do with the salute. Bob then approached Datsun, which immediately agreed to support his plans. Bob learned to drive in his buddy's mom's Chrysler that they sorta borrowed. After five decades of training racers of all skill levels, the Bondurant High Performance Driving School in Chandler, Arizona has new name, the Radford Racing School. In 1963 he became a member of Carroll Shelby's Ford Cobra team, winning his first race at the Continental Divide Raceway in Colorado, followed by an overall win at the LA Times Grand Prix GT race at Riverside in October 1963. He was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 2003. 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 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. 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. 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. It's constantly changing; technology advances, drivers get better, and times get faster. We cherish his memories and will forever remember him and his . By RACER Staff After the fabled school was purchased in $1.7 million May 2019 out of bankruptcy from the legendary Bob Bondurant and his family by Stig Investments. Both raced Triumphs and both raced Corvettes, which got the attention of wealthy car owners who put them in their Ferraris and Maseratis. Bob Bondurant was born in Evanston, Illinois, in 1933. PARADISE VALLEY, Ariz. Bob Bondurant, a champion race car driver who later opened a driving school in 1968 and taught several top actors, died Friday. Bondurants final race in this car was in 2012 at the Auto Club Raceway Pomona, unsurprisingly hes said to have won despite being 79 years old. I talked my mom into letting me get a Whizzer motor bike. The pair went against Pat Bondurants wishes, informed employees and walked off the job. The Bob Bondurant School of High Performance Driving, headquartered in Chandler, Arizona, filed a Chapter 11 bankruptcy petition on October 2. The Bondurant Method is known worldwide as the #1 training methodology for professional drivers, movie stars, military and law enforcement. When the Bondurant school did reopen, new chief restructuring officer Timothy H. Shaffer said the school was working to reschedule classes from the closure period. Nissan Motor Company (under Datsun name in the U.S.) was Bondurant's sponsoring partner in his school from its beginning, and continued in that role at the Sonoma Raceway driving school. In 1973, Bob moved his already famous school to the track he purchased, Sears Point International Raceway (now Infineon Raceway) near Sonoma, CA in 1973. I moved to Bishop, California, where I was living with my Aunt Ella. Bondurant was one of the most famous drivers to emerge from the Southern California road racing scene in the 1950s, and achieved success in North America and in Europe. Bob Bondurant. The second was teaching the world to become champions.. America's iconic World Champion Bob Bondurant has passed away in Paradise Valley, Arizona. He taught . 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. During the race it started to rain; it was cold with 40-mph winds. Gregory was at Monza instructing Bob on the difficult course. We barely got the spare parts in the truck. Bob Bondurant was a motor racing icon, a name synonymous with Carroll Shelby's globetrotting Cobras and Daytona Coupes. 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. 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. This marks the second driving school in just over. 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 was 88. "I didn't think about the accident until we were doing the cool-off lap at the end of the race," he recalled. 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. She vows to continue the legacy of the school. Bob happened on a used car lot where Don was working. He was going to a motorcycle shop in Glendale where Don Bachtold workedhe was a top motorcycle mechanic. If my dad was mentally there like he was [then], we would have never gotten to this place. He also has a position among the list of Most popular Formula One Driver. The Bob Bondurant School of High Performance Driving, headquartered in Chandler, Arizona, filed a Chapter 11 bankruptcy petition on October 2. Former employees of the Bob Bondurant School of High Performance Driving, an Arizona-based racing school thats been around since 1968, said they walked out of work last month in protest of a hostile environment. [citation needed], Bob Bondurant School of High Performance Driving, Learn how and when to remove this template message, "Successful successions: Business owners plan for smooth retirement transition", "Last Year Firebird Raceway and the Arizona NHRA Nationals; In 2014 it's Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bob_Bondurant_School_of_High_Performance_Driving&oldid=1137791074, This page was last edited on 6 February 2023, at 13:15. I said, I know you signed the petition, please do not leave because of me, he recalled telling employees. Lying in the hospital bed with broken bones didn't break his desire to get back on track, in more ways than one. Friday, November 12, 2021, the world lost an iconic American racing hero, Bob Bondurant. Then approached Datsun, which got the spare parts in the legendary Shelby Daytona Coupe no ats was formed disenchanted. To Eighth from his starting position of 14th on a completely wet track case, not wearing belt. 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