Bob realized his dream, opening the Bob Bondurant School of High Performance Driving at Orange County Raceway on Valentine's Day 1968 with a Vee-Dub van (minus the peace signs and daisies), a Datsun 510, and a Formula V for starters. 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. The school did not directly respond to this claim. Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Bob Bondurant on High Performance Driving at the best online prices at eBay! Bob Bondurant stepped back from the school's daily operations because he wanted to do "the fun stuff" later in life, Jason Bondurant said. Gregory was at Monza instructing Bob on the difficult course. Bondurant relocated the driving school to Phoenix following the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake in California. 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. While recuperating from a race car crash, he came up with the idea of a high-performance driving school. In 1989, Bob was invited to Firebird Raceway in Chandler, AZ to consider a lease agreement to build the world's first purpose-built driver training facility. 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. It could happen again, if it did and the results were worse, how would he make a living, Bob wondered? It was boring because you'd run down the dragstripthat part was great, but then it took a half-hour before you got to do it again.". I lived in Bishop about a year. Died:. [5], Bondurant died in Paradise Valley, Arizona, on November 12, 2021, at the age of 88. 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 the Ferrari, This is the Tommykaira ZZ, its an unusual sports car that became a legend in 1999 due to its inclusion in the wildly popular, This 1984Rover Vitesse SD1 TWR Group A specification touring car was painstakingly rebuilt, at a six figure cost, to resurrect the mightyTWR/010 SD1 which, The Jaguar E-Type was released in 1961, its good looks andremarkable performance won it fans aroundthe world, famouslyincluding Enzo Ferrariwho is said to have, The Iso Rivolta IR 300 GT is a little known but superb Grand Touring car, perhaps one of the greatest of the 1960s all, The traditional Silodrome was a carnival sideshow attraction also called the Wall of Death." Bob's massive 60-acre complex in Arizona is designed to show students the fastest and safest way around the 1.6-mile road course. It's important to note that Bob was driving an eight-cylinder Ferrari while the factory drivers had V-12s. His legacy will remain with us forever. According to his family and the Bondurant Racing School website, Bondurant died Friday in the Phoenix suburb of Paradise Valley. He was one of a handful of Americans to compete in the Formula 1 Grand Prix series, and also raced at Le Mans. Bondurant won a world championship while racing for Carroll Shelby. The pair went against Pat Bondurants wishes, informed employees and walked off the job. "A buddy's mother would go to the movies every Thursday night. 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. 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. Bob Bondurant. 'No.' Now thats doing your business in luxury. In this Grand Rounds, S. Andrew Josephson, chair of the UCSF Department of Neurology and illustrious neurology educator, will bring us up-to-date on . By RACER Staff Bob Bondurant, 88, has had some health concerns over the last few years and has stepped back a bit from the business. 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. Shelbys faith in Bondurant was quickly justified as he won his first race at theContinental Divide Raceway in Colorado. He was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 2003. Man died Wednesday. Bob happened on a used car lot where Don was working. As funds dwindled leading up to the bankruptcy, the schools former financial controller Lavida Arvizu, who also walked out, said employees didnt trust they would get paid without herself or Jason Bondurant around to make sure it happened. He was one of a handful of Americans to compete in the Formula 1 Grand Prix series, and also raced at Le Mans. PHOENIX The racing world is still mourning the loss of world champion Bob Bondurant. The Bondurant Method is known worldwide as the #1 training methodology for professional drivers, movie stars, military and law enforcement. Robert Lewis Bondurant was born on April 27, 1933, to John Roper Bondurant and Ruth Williams Bondurant of Evanston, Ill. His father owned two luxury car dealerships named Bondurant Motors. When Bob turned two years old, the family moved to Westwood Village, Calif. Bob began his fascination with speed as a three-year-old on his first tricycle with playing cards clothes pinned on his spokes for the sound of the rush. According to his family and the Bondurant Racing School website, Bondurant died Friday in the Phoenix suburb of Paradise Valley. He also has a position among the list of Most popular Formula One Driver. Friday, November 12, 2021, the world lost an iconic American racing hero, Bob Bondurant. In 1967 while driving a McLaren CanAm car at Watkins Glen, Bondurant was seriously injured in a horrific crash when the steering arm failed at 150 mph. That was the beginning of the Nov. 12 walkout, Jason Bondurant said. He'd fallen out of the car! You can read more about it HERE (AP Wire Press Release) and HERE (Forbes). 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 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. 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. The first was becoming a World Champion driver. We vehemently deny the allegations that have been made by a handful of former employees about how the school was being managed. [1] In 1968, it was originally located at Orange County International Raceway in California, later moving to Ontario Motor Speedway in 1970, and to Sears Point International Raceway in 1973. Bob might've thought, if just for an instant, if the guys at the Piccadilly could only see me now! A buddy had a car so we towed it with a rope around a corner to my house and the rear wheels came off. "The whole difference was the crowds who gathered around the Corvette with Dana Chevrolet on the door at the races and who sold cars. ", Guildstrand and Bob decided to fill the Corvette's tank with essence (fuel) and drive it to Le Mans. He has ranked on the list of those famous people who were born on April 27, 1933. This is Bob Bondurant at Riverside Raceway with the Shelby GT350 Mustang prototype for testing in 1965. 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. 2021 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. I delivered the Hollywood newspaper on my Schwinn bicycle," Bob begins. 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. Is a Ram 1500 TRX the Ideal Winter Vehicle? 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. He won his class at Le Mans and has been inducted into ten motorsports halls of fame. Bob Bondurant was born in Evanston, and moved to California with his family. Carol Bondurant (wife of G.T. At age 8, his father introduced him to racing by taking him to Thursday night midget races. Me and my buddies drove all over in that thing. This week's reunion will be calmer, just a few minutes quietly recalling the life-changing event as . That's how I learned to ride motorcycles," Bob laughs. "We still finished 17th, we were that far ahead," Guildstrand laughs. Only four have returned since, he said. Bob formulated a plan to open a high-performance driving school. Formula 1 came to the United States on a course steeped with racing history dating back to 1956: Watkins Glen. (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. [citation needed], The Bob Bondurant School of High Performance Driving has graduated over 500,000 drivers since its opening in 1968. Of course since Bob was an experienced dirt racer he could have picked up a used Midget or Sprinter and gone that route. At the L.A. Times Grand Prix in October 1962, Bondurant drove Washburn's new 1963 Corvette Z06 Stingray. In total, he recorded nine F1 starts over two years. He was a member of Carroll Shelby's team, racing the famed Cobra. She said to me that we should stop hiring people from Chandler or Gilbert, Arvizu wrote. 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. The second was teaching the world to become champions., "As the President and CEO of Bondurant, I have always known that being the best in the world isn't easy and isn't a fixed point. 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. Everyone who walked through the Bondurant doors was taught the copyrighted Bondurant Method, developed by the most respected Racing School in the world. If you leave, youre leaving on your own. Racer.com traced his life story: [], [] driving school founder Bob Bondurant died Friday in Paradise Valley, Arizona, at the age of 88,Racerhas [], [] and driving school founder Bob Bondurant died Friday in Paradise Valley, Arizona, at the age of 88, Racer has learned.The son of a car dealer, Bondurant began racing in Corvettes on the West Coast in the [], Bob Bondurant, 1933-2021 RACER - Jakhala.com, Racing legend Bob Bondurant lifeless at 88 Abrar Gadget Shop, Racing legend Bob Bondurant dead at 88 AutoSector.com , BOB BONDURANT 1933-2021 The Road Racing Drivers Club, Racing legend Bob Bondurant dead at 88 - Aftermarket Alloy Wheels, Racing legend Bob Bondurant dead at 88 Born To Be Wild, All contents copyright 2023, Racer Media & Marketing, Inc. All rights reserved. In Paradise Valley was a member of Carroll Shelby to Thursday night his father introduced to... Gt350 Mustang prototype for testing in 1965 just a few minutes quietly recalling the life-changing as... 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