Pat Bondurant secured a 51-percent stake in the school in 2010, about two months after she married Bob Bondurant, their son told Jalopnik. Answering the call, on February 14, 1968, Bob founded The Bob Bondurant School of High Performance Driving. In late 2018, Pat and Bob Bondurant found themselves embroiled in an unfortunate and unforeseen family business situation where they were victimized as a result of a power struggle and attempted character assaults perpetrated by certain close family members looking to take over the company. If youre not here, we know that were even more screwed, so we are leaving.. 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. I handed them $5, they handed me a Competition License and said, 'Now you can go racing.' November 14, 2021 9:30 AM ET. 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. 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. When he made the decision to leave, he said, other employees went with him. Hetrained the films lead actor, James Garner, to drive Formula cars in the race sequences. Many NASCAR drivers were trained at Bob's school for road course training, along with many celebrity actors for driving scenes. [citation needed], The famous Bondurant name has never been bought or sold. [5], Bondurant died in Paradise Valley, Arizona, on November 12, 2021, at the age of 88. 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, after he almost lost his life in a race when the steering arm of his McLaren MARK II CanAm snapped at 150 mph. I raced that bike for a long time.". 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. He drove for Carroll Shelby and teamed with Dan Gurney. This marks the second driving school in just over. 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. 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. 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. 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 am leaving because I have to take a stand. Since Bob has never stopped racing (he still enters vintage events), he still has some sneaky moves his experienced instructors have never seen before. After all, Bob Bondurant is the only American World Champion Driver, Le Mans winner, and inducted into ten Hall of Fames, so theres a reason theyve been around for 53 years, they know what it takes to succeed. PARADISE VALLEY, Ariz. - Champion Race Car Driver Bob Bondurant died in Paradise Valley on Nov. 12 at the age of 88. 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. He also said Bob Bondurant, 85, isnt in the physical and mental shape at his age to comprehend whats allegedly going on at the school or stand up to Pat Bondurant, who Jason Bondurant said is 63 years old. Its sad that in this stage of life, hes not competent or mentally there like he was 20 years ago. Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. This racing school is still going strong today and you can enroll for training here. What Bob Bondurant started 22 years ago as a part-time business for a crippled race driver--a driving school at Orange County Raceway with three Datsuns and a Formula Vee--has turned into a . 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. 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. We vehemently deny the allegations that have been made by a handful of former employees about how the school was being managed. "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. It's important to note that Bob was driving an eight-cylinder Ferrari while the factory drivers had V-12s. 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. More importantly, he was in hot rod country that flourished 365 days a year rather than the "Windy City" area whose average temp was 49 degrees F. "I was always into cars and motorcycles. Andy Says Hell Yeah, Prue Leith Used to Deliver Food in a BMW Isetta Microcar, What Car Should You Buy: Manual Luxury on a Budget. A spokesperson for the school said they could not provide expansion on that statement or interviews right now, as they said the team there is focused on the schools restructuring. Here are allegations of more general derogatory comments, via the ClassicCars.com Journal report: Two years ago, on the advice of an external human relations company, Jason Bondurant said he sent his mother home for two weeks after a worker overheard her making racist comments. Bob must've pinched himself: it was one thing to cruise the streets in his hot rod, but in a Formula 1 Ferrari! I delivered the Hollywood newspaper on my Schwinn bicycle," Bob begins. Friday, November 12, 2021, the world lost an iconic American racing hero, Bob Bondurant. 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. When I was handed that petition is when it really hit home to me how bad it had gotten company wide, he said. There was still no real comment about the closure itself until last week, when multiple employees of the Arizona driving school told the Arizona-based ClassicCars.com Journal about the claimed walkout a month after it happened. In 1967, a fateful race at Watkins Glen changed his entire career, and the Bondurant School was born. . 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. 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. 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. (Update: A Fiat Chrysler spokesperson said that due to the ongoing litigation, the company cannot comment on the claims in the bankruptcy documents.). Bondurant taught stunt driving, competition driving, police pursuit driving, evasive driving for . Robert L. Bondurant (April 27, 1933 November 12, 2021) was an American racecar driver who raced for the Shelby American, Ferrari, and Eagle teams. Over the next few years Bondurant would travel around the world, racing in Europe and the United States, competing in Formula 1, the Targa Florio, the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Spa, the Nurburgring, and helping win the 1965FIA Manufacturers World Championship for Shelby. Racer Media & Marketing, Inc., 17030 Red Hill Avenue, Irvine, CA 92614, 949.417.6700 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. I'd never been to one before and I really liked watching them race. Bob Bondurant, Transportation Department: Grand Prix. 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. / CBS San Francisco. Bondurant's closing, the details and terms of which are still unclear, comes after serving the industry for 50 years, following a filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in October of 2018. He also worked trained actors for race-car movies such as the 1966 "Grand Prix . Were working through the proper legal channels to make the best choices for the long-term health and success of the school. For her part, [front desk employee Heidi] Johnson said she overheard Pat Bondurant say that staffers should tell female students to not dress like prostitutes. Bob Bondurant left a legacy behind, which may be counted in lives saved, trophies won, and trained racing drivers. 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. His best-known victory was winning the GT class at Le Mans 24 Hours in 1964 in Shelby's new Cobra Daytona Coupe with Dan Gurney co-driving. SAI teammates Dave MacDonald and Bob Bondurant co-drive Shelby Cobra Roadster CSX2136 - jointly entered by Steve McQueen & Carroll Shelby - to a 1st in GT & . Bob then approached Datsun, which immediately agreed to support his plans. At Le Mans he led the GT class until a wrist pin failed putting the car out in the early morning. 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. 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. I told her it didn't work. 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. 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. 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. For 1967 he drove in the CanAm series and in a Corvette L88 Coupe at Le Mans. ", 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. Bob Bondurant America's uncrowned World Driving Champion (2007, Editions Cotty; Bob Bondurant Des Cobra la Formule1 la meme passion (2008, Editions Cotty; This page was last edited on 4 November 2022, at 15:49. At the L.A. Times Grand Prix in October 1962, Bondurant drove Washburn's new 1963 Corvette Z06 Stingray. In less than a years time, enough financial and infrastructural damage had taken place to force the legendary racing school into Chapter 11 protection. 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