The school did not directly respond to this claim. They have no idea where we are going.". During the race it started to rain; it was cold with 40-mph winds. November 14, 2021 9:30 AM, By RACER Staff | In 1967, Bob led the GT Class at Le Mans with co-driver Dick Guldstrand in a stock L88 Corvette Sting Ray until retiring at the 15th hour. In 1965, Bob Bondurant takes the wheel of a Ferrari Formula 1 race car during the US Grand Prix. ", Guildstrand and Bob decided to fill the Corvette's tank with essence (fuel) and drive it to Le Mans. COURAGE. It could happen again, if it did and the results were worse, how would he make a living, Bob wondered? He was 88 and survived by his wife Patricia. Since then, the school has taught the copyrighted "Bondurant Method" with its lineup of instructors. While recuperating from a race car crash, he came up with the idea of a high-performance driving school. "I even tried selling insurance once, but that was boring. ERA GTs often sell for six figure sums when they do come up for sale, such is the esteem in which they are held. 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. 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. [] 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. [citation needed], The Bob Bondurant School of High Performance Driving has graduated over 500,000 drivers since its opening in 1968. Lying in the hospital bed with broken bones didn't break his desire to get back on track, in more ways than one. I bought it for $40. While recuperating, Bondurant drafted an idea for a high performance driving school borrowing from the experiences he had while training James Garner for Grand Prix. Bob Bondurant is an American former racing driver and a founder of the famous Bob Bondurant School of High Performance Driving.. He was 88. 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. I raced that bike for a long time.". Bob Bondurant, 88, has had some health concerns over the last few years and has stepped back a bit from the business. With the wind, plus rain, Bob's goggles were blowing off his face; the elastic strap had stretched and at one point his goggles blew down around his chin with the wind gusts. "My mom and dad had divorced, then mom died when I was 16. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in any form without prior authorization. His mothers death left him inconsolable, which is where the seed of his fearlessness was realized. (But this was Formula 1, it's supposed to rain, be windy, and cold.). He won his class at Le Mans and has been inducted into 10 motorsports halls of fame. He drove for Carroll Shelby and teamed with Dan Gurney. 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). Bob Bondurant has had a worldwide impact on the motorsports industry, and his legacy will live on as the Bondurant Racing School moves forward into the future. This car become one of Bondurants most prized possessions after it was bought for him as a Christmas gift by his wife, you can read the story of this below: Bob Bondurants wife Pat searched for months and found her husband the best GT40 replica money could buy, a right-hand drive ERA GT40, almost identical to the GT40s he raced for Carroll Shelby back in the 1960s., Bob rubbed his eyes in disbelief when the transporter dropped this car off in the Bondurants driveway on Christmas morning. He is survived by his wife, Pat, president and CEO of the Bondurant Racing School, who vows to continue the legacy of Bobs school. 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. Mini Bio (1) Bondurant raced cars in the 1960s with some success until a crash at Watkins Glen, in New York curtailed his career. In total, he recorded nine F1 starts over two years. 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. Guildstrand asked Bob how to tell when he was approaching the Tertre Rouge corner at the end of the long (4381 feet) Mulsanne Straight at night. Stay up-to-date with our upcoming events! 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. He is survived by his wife Pat. When he made the decision to leave, he said, other employees went with him. Of course it would take some laps before he would build his confidence not to lift. 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. 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. At Le Mans he led the GT class until a wrist pin failed putting the car out in the early morning. [5] Bob Bondurant's copyrighted method taught competition driving . Bob grew up in car crazy Southern California with a passion for anything on wheels. The Bondurants intend to reopen their school under an all-new ownership and management structure, at an exciting new location, and are currently entertaining investor inquiries on opportunities to purchase the Bondurant Trademark License Rights. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed, First published on November 14, 2021 / 2:02 PM. As a resulting worse-case scenario, the schools assets were sold off in 2019. The Bob Bondurant School of High Performance Driving was the largest purpose-built driving school in the world. Bondurant returned to race a Can-Am car at Watkins Glen a year after his crash. 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. "Then I thought, 'Wow, those trees are pretty tall!'". Bondurant taught stunt driving, competition driving, police pursuit driving, evasive driving for . 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. The Bob Bondurant School of High Performance Driving, THE BOB BONDURANT SCHOOL OF HIGH PERFORMANCE DRIVING. "He made my profession easier," Lance Henriksen, who played the vampire Gomorrah on "The X-Files," told The Chicago Tribune. Bondurant, who passed away Nov. 12, at the age of 88, collected an enviable pile of trophies throughout the decades competing at tracks like the Nrburgring, Le Mans and Sebring, and in series including NASCAR CanAm and Formula 1. Not long after he was born in Illinois in 1933, his. Bob Bondurant was born in Evanston, Illinois, in 1933. 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. Bondurant also drove BRMs in five Grands Prix for Team Chamaco Collect, finishing 4th at Monaco. 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. The walkout, he claimed, included all of the employees at work that day26 including the night shift. November 14, 2021 9:30 AM ET. 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. Bondurant was a driving instructor to actors James Garner, Paul Newman, Clint Eastwood, Robert Wagner, Tim Allen, Tom Cruise, and Nicolas Cage. 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. 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. In 1967, a fateful race at Watkins Glen changed his entire career, and the Bondurant School was born. You may have seen them at county fairs the vertical velodromes were originally built from old grain silos, leading to the name "silo-drome.". There were no driving schools then," Bob laughs. 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. We may earn a commission from links on this page. Bob had never driven a Grand Prix Ferrari at all, and now he was about to go cruising not only through town, but out through the countryside to the track in a full-blown F1 car. 72 ERA GT40. PARADISE VALLEY, Ariz. - Champion Race Car Driver Bob Bondurant died in Paradise Valley on Nov. 12 at the age of 88. Being new, he was unaware the drivers carried spare goggles around their neck. 1. 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. His legacy will remain with us forever. He didn't answer. [5], Bondurant died in Paradise Valley, Arizona, on November 12, 2021, at the age of 88. Bob Bondurant, who taught acting techniques for decades at his small-town Southern California race track, died Thursday after his suffering a stroke earlier this month. Of course we're blowing dirt up in the air from the exhaust so you could see us coming. I moved to Bishop, California, where I was living with my Aunt Ella. Image courtesy of the Bondurant Archives. Jason Bondurant also told Jalopnik that he didnt lead the employee walkout, but rather gave Pat Bondurant a pre-planned ultimatum that Monday that either he was staying at the school or she was. Bob Bondurant was a racing driver who founded the Bob Bondurant School of High Performance Driving, where he taught celebrities including Paul Newman and Tom Cruise. Both raced Triumphs and both raced Corvettes, which got the attention of wealthy car owners who put them in their Ferraris and Maseratis. Bob's time was 1:12.9, which put him on the outside of the seventh row next to Jochen Rindt from Germany (Rindt was killed at Monza in 1970). 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. / CBS San Francisco. What a career. Bondurant retired from racing at 79 after winning his last race at Pomona Raceway in his No. Funeral plans were not immediately available Sunday. I had it running in two days. For 50 years, it earned and held a reputation as the number-one racing school in the world, crediting Bob as the global expert authority on driver training and safety. Using his notorious racing skills, he copyrighted The Bondurant Method. Personally, he taught his hand-selected instructors how to educate the world to be better drivers. Bob's father owned a car dealership that sold fast cars in nearby Chicago; very fast carsCords to be exact. 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 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. This is an ERA GT that was built for Bob Bondurant, it was driven by the famed American racing driver a number of times and kept in his private collection. 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 bought a British two-seater Morgan Plus 4 with four cylinders that put out 68 hp and raced it for a year, graduating to a Triumph TR2 with a blazing 90 horses stock. Jason Bondurant said the alleged petition, to the left, was signed by 22 of the schools 33 employees, and that eight more would have signed but had not been into work for their shift yet. Bob Bondurant was born in Evanston, and moved to California with his family. Bob Bondurant left a legacy behind, which may be counted in lives saved, trophies won, and trained racing drivers. When I was handed that petition is when it really hit home to me how bad it had gotten company wide, he said. All Rights Reserved. 'No.' It was formerly located in Chandler, Arizona at the Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park. He was 88. That's how I learned to ride motorcycles," Bob laughs. By the time he was 18; he was racing an Indian Scout motorcycle, and moved to sports cars in 1956 at the wheel of a Morgan. He said she appeared to avoid such language for a few weeks but made another remark after attending President Donald Trumps 2017 inauguration. Bob is the first and only American to bring the World SportsCar Championship trophy home to America in the legendary Shelby Daytona Coupe No. While driving a McLaren at Watkins Glen, the car's steering arm fails at around 150 mph, which . He was one of a handful of Americans to compete in the Formula 1 Grand Prix series, and also raced at Le Mans. After 12 laps Bob moved up to Eighth from his starting position of 14th on a completely wet track. Sadly, Bob died in 2021 after some years of poor health. I stayed for two hours telling everyone Lets leave these cars locked up, make sure the buildings and gates are secure. He finished the Formula One season in North America in two races, driving an Eagle for Dan Gurney's Anglo American Racers. 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. Partner of USA Today Sports Digital Properties. Over the years 52 drivers and 35 spectators have lost their lives on the 3.6-mile track. Bondurant is survived by his wife, Pat, who is president and CEO of the Bondurant Racing School. I delivered the Hollywood newspaper on my Schwinn bicycle," Bob begins. PARADISE VALLEY, Ariz. (AP) -- 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. Bob Bondurant is a member of 10 Racing Hall of Fames and founded the famous driving school in 1968, teaching with his copyrighted Bondurant Method. The Bob Bondurant School of High Performance Driving, headquartered in Chandler, Arizona, filed a Chapter 11 bankruptcy petition on October 2. Porsche, after witnessing how the school increased Datsun's profile, supplied Bondurant with Porsche 911s and Porsche 914s. A statement on his passing reads, in part, "Bondurant is the only American. The current operators of the formerly leased facility have renamed the facility and have no affiliation with Bob Bondurant or the Bob Bondurant School of High Performance Driving/ Bondurant Racing School. Graham Hill won the event in a BRM. We invite you to share . The family has requested privacy at this time. Twice, Bob was badly injured, not from driver error, but from mechanical failure. The pair went against Pat Bondurants wishes, informed employees and walked off the job. According to his family and the Bondurant Racing School website, Bondurant died Friday in the Phoenix suburb of Paradise Valley. 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. "We get off the plane at the Paris-Orly Airport and there was just a small diesel truck but no trailer and an Opel waiting for us. 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. Pat Bondurant has denied the claims. Since February 14th, 1968, Bondurant has been the premier driver-training destination for everyone from racing professionals looking for that winning edge to daily commuters seeking to become more proficient behind the wheel. 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. Bob then approached Datsun, which immediately agreed to support his plans. The Bob Bondurant School of High Performance Driving opened in early 1968 at Orange County International Raceway then moved to Ontario and then to Sonoma, where he was an important figure in the track's development. Bob Bondurant, who went from winning races on the international stage to teaching others to win races at his famous driving school, has passed away at age 88. He also worked trained actors for race-car movies such as the 1966 "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. 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. Paul Newman and Robert Wagner were the third and fourth students to enroll in the Bob Bondurant School of High Performance Driving for the movie "Winning". The CSX2345 had innovative, distinctive features including wider front fender flares, cutback doors, and a tilt-back windshield to reduce drag. "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. He had won the National Corvette Title, Le Mans GT, the World Championship, and the Baja 500 Between 1961 and 1963, he won 30 out of 32 races in Corvettes. Many NASCAR drivers were trained at Bob's school for road course training, along with many celebrity actors for driving scenes. PARADISE VALLEY, Ariz. (AP) 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. (Photo via Getty Images), Public File for KBCW-TV / KBCW 44 Cable 12. Click here to view Vintage Motorsports appreciation of the amazing life of Bob Bondurant. Bob Bondurant excelled at the highest levels of sports car racing in the 1960s, with perhaps his greatest achievement coming in 1964 when he won the GT class at Le Mans 24 Hours driving with. Privacy Policy - Terms of Service - Contact Us, Sculpture: An Original Ferrari Testarossa Side Mirror, A Rare Tommykaira ZZ: The Japanese Sports Car Made Famous By Gran Turismo, Theres A Rover Vitesse SD1 TWR Group A Spec Touring Car For Sale, The Most Beautiful Car Ever Made A Jaguar E-Type Project Car, For Sale: An Italian Corvette The Iso Rivolta IR 300, An Original 1980s Sega Super Hang-On Arcade Machine. 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. [citation needed], The current operators of the formerly leased facility have renamed the facility and has no affiliation with Bob Bondurant or the Bob Bondurant School of High Performance Driving/ Bondurant Racing School. He then rose to the highest level in racing with Ferrari in Formula 1 and prototypes. He offered Bob a full Ford sponsorship of cars, parts, and marketing until 2003. He raced mostly in the USA but also spent one full season in the Formula One World Championship in 1966. At 62, Bob grabbed a Third place podium finish at Road Atlanta in a Saleen Mustang in 1995. The allegations revolve around Pat Bondurant, the schools president of eight years, CEO since 2017 and wife of founder 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. The Bondurant Racing School was founded in 1968 and . (You can judge by this account how quickly the safety crews got to Bob.) April 10, 2022 | Fort Lauderdale, FL | Friend. A buddy had a car so we towed it with a rope around a corner to my house and the rear wheels came off. I was going with a girl who I liked a lot, but she said, 'If we're going to get married you're going to have to stop racing motorcycles. It's constantly changing; technology advances, drivers get better, and times get faster. Jalopnik has reached out to Dodge for comment on these alleged inconsistent payments and on the Vipers, and will update this story when we hear back. He was a member of Carroll Shelby's team, racing the famed Cobra. 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 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. "Bob is under care in an assisted facility," Pat Bondurant said, "but. ", Bob knew the circuit well, having raced Le Mans in 1964, winning the GT Class in a Ford Daytona Coupe with Dan Gurney. His school has had over 500,000 graduates, it said. The Bondurant Racing School has helped over 500,000 students graduate from its high-performance driving course. Bondurant trackside with Carroll Shelby while racing for the Cobra legend's team in the 1960s . Jason Bondurant told the journal that working at the school truly was a very hostile, horrible environment.. Stroke 2023: A Change Has Come and Is Still Coming Session moderated by Bob Wachter For the non-neurologist, it may be hard to keep up with all the latest controversies, exciting advances, and paradigm shifts in the management of acute strokes. [1][2][3]. The body is made from fiberglass, just like the Ford GT40s, however its a slightly thicker lay up that was developed to stand the test of time, with no warping or spider webbing/stress cracking. If youre not here, we know that were even more screwed, so we are leaving.. You can call it character, you can call it determination, or you can just call it guts. By 12 years old, his parents were divorced, and he persuaded his mother to purchase a Whizzer electric bike to deliver his newspapers faster. 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. 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. Bondurant was born in Evanston, Illinois. Pat Bondurant, again, vehemently denied claims from the former employees about the management of the school. The copyrighted Bondurant teaching method caters to professional drivers, military, law enforcement, and actors. I said, I know you signed the petition, please do not leave because of me, he recalled telling employees. ", After graduating from high school, Bob dug ditches and unloaded furniture trucks at Bekins Van Lines, then later on, sold Corvettes to finance his racing. (Update: A Fiat Chrysler spokesperson said that due to the ongoing litigation, the company cannot comment on the claims in the bankruptcy documents.). As with the others, Pat Bondurant didnt respond directly to this allegation, but denied all of the allegations about school management. I'd never been to one before and I really liked watching them race. Others followed suit, which forced the brief closure. ", Bob acquired the ultimate for any hot rodder, a severely chopped '34 Ford three-window coupe: "I found a chopped-and-channeled '34 coupe on a used car lot and I went drag racing with it at Santa Ana. She vows to continue the legacy of the school. 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. Jason Bondurant is the son of Pat Bondurant and the adopted son of Bob Bondurant. Its what gives you the confidence to be bold and to push harder. [3][4], The Bob Bondurant School of High Performance Driving was the largest purpose-built driving school in the world. 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. Bondurant raced cars in the 1960s with some success until a crash at Watkins Glen, in New York curtailed his career. I talked my mom into letting me get a Whizzer motor bike. Bob was racing at Riverside Raceway when the crank broke in the Vette. Do you wear belts or not? Bob learned to drive in his buddy's mom's Chrysler that they sorta borrowed. 2023 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. [5] Bob Bondurant's copyrighted method taught competition driving, police pursuit driving, evasive driving for chauffeurs and bodyguards, stunt driving, and other courses.[6][7]. In 1965 Bondurant won the FIA Manufacturers' World Championship for Shelby American and Ford, winning seven out of ten races against the class dominating Ferrari 250 GTOs in Europe. He also said Bob Bondurant, 85, isn't in the. How many sharing the road with Bob that day did double takes to make sure they saw what they thought they saw? Me and my buddies drove all over in that thing. 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. Our goal is always to be better than we were before because looking forward doesn't just happen on race day; it happens every day.". 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. Shelbys faith in Bondurant was quickly justified as he won his first race at theContinental Divide Raceway in Colorado. Bondurant once said, My life has been lived in two halves. He was 88. "A buddy's mother would go to the movies every Thursday night. 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. 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. Bondurant enjoyed this experience and it led to him starting the Bob Bondurant School of High Performance Driving, over the years that followed he would train a slew of other celebrities, some of whom went on to become championship-winning racing drivers in their own right. ", When Bob was 18 he started racing motorcycles at Carrell and Culver City Speedways: "In those days you didn't have brakes; you went faster without brakes on the bikes. Some health concerns over the last few years and has stepped back a bit the... After attending president Donald Trumps 2017 inauguration technology advances, drivers get better, the. Position of bob bondurant stroke on a completely wet track innovative, distinctive features including wider front flares... It would take some laps before he would build his bob bondurant stroke not to lift others followed suit, got! Sold off in 2019 military, law enforcement, and cold. ) - Champion car. 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