Bob Bondurant was one of America’s most influential racing figures — a driver who succeeded on the world’s greatest circuits, competed for legendary teams including Shelby American, Ferrari, and Eagle, and ultimately shaped generations of racers through education.
| Nationality | American |
|---|---|
| Born | Robert Lewis Bondurant 27 April 1933 Evanston, Illinois, U.S. |
| Died | 12 November 2021 (aged 88) Paradise Valley, Arizona, U.S. |
Rising from the fiercely competitive Southern California road racing scene of the 1950s, Bondurant achieved significant success on both sides of the Atlantic and became a pivotal ambassador for American road racing. His enduring legacy lives on through the Bob Bondurant School of High Performance Driving, which trained hundreds of thousands of drivers — from future professionals to Hollywood royalty.
Career
Bondurant was born in Evanston, Illinois, but his competitive instincts emerged early and loudly. As a teenager, he raced Indian motorcycles on dirt ovals, learning car control the hard way. By 1956, he shifted his focus to sports cars, initially racing a Morgan, and soon made his mark by winning the West Coast “B” Production Championship in a Chevrolet Corvette, claiming an extraordinary 18 victories in 20 races.
His growing reputation caught the attention of Santa Barbara Chevrolet dealer Shelly Washburn, who hired Bondurant in 1961 to drive his #614 1959 Corvette. Over the next several seasons, Bondurant became a dominant force on the West Coast. His on-track rivalry with David McDonald produced some of the era’s most memorable Corvette battles. At the 1962 L.A. Times Grand Prix, Bondurant debuted Washburn’s new 1963 Corvette Z06 Stingray, and between 1961 and 1963, he won an astonishing 30 of 32 races in Washburn’s Corvettes.
Shelby, Europe, and international success
In 1963, Bondurant joined Carroll Shelby’s Ford Cobra team, immediately delivering results. He won his first race for Shelby at Continental Divide Raceway in Colorado, followed by an overall GT victory at the L.A. Times Grand Prix at Riverside later that year.
The following season propelled him onto the global stage. After finishing second in GT at Sebring, Bondurant spent 1964 racing in Europe, campaigning Shelby’s new 289 FIA Cobras at iconic events including the Targa Florio, Spa-Francorchamps, and the Nürburgring. His most celebrated triumph came at the 1964 24 Hours of Le Mans, where he and Dan Gurney won the GT class in the revolutionary Cobra Daytona Coupé.
Bondurant reached the peak of his international racing career in 1965, when he played a key role in Shelby American and Ford winning the FIA Manufacturers’ World Championship. He won seven of ten races, defeating the class-dominant Ferrari 250 GTOs across Europe. That same year, Bondurant expanded his résumé further, driving a works Ferrari Formula One car at the United States Grand Prix at Watkins Glen, followed by a start in a Lotus 33 for Reg Parnell at the Mexican Grand Prix.
Formula One, film, and defining moments
In 1966, Bondurant’s expertise took him beyond the racetrack. He served as technical consultant for John Frankenheimer’s film Grand Prix and personally trained lead actor James Garner to drive Formula cars for the movie’s racing scenes.
That same year, Bondurant was involved in one of the most consequential moments in motorsport safety history. Alongside Graham Hill, he helped extract Jackie Stewart from his fuel-soaked wreck during the 1966 Belgian Grand Prix — an incident that directly inspired Stewart’s later campaign for improved safety standards.
Bondurant also competed in five Formula One Grands Prix with Team Chamaco Collect, driving BRMs and achieving an impressive fourth-place finish at Monaco. He rounded out his Formula One involvement in North America with two races driving an Eagle for Dan Gurney’s Anglo American Racers.
The crash that changed everything
In 1967, Bondurant competed in the Can-Am series and returned to Le Mans in a Corvette L88 Coupé, leading the GT class until a wrist pin failure ended his race in the early morning hours. Later that year, disaster struck at Watkins Glen. While driving a McLaren, a steering arm failed at approximately 150 mph approaching the Loop-Chute section (today’s Turn 5). The car flipped eight times, leaving Bondurant with severe injuries to his ribs, legs, feet, and most critically, his back. Doctors warned he might never walk again.
Bondurant refused to accept that verdict. Through determination and relentless rehabilitation, he recovered — and in the process, envisioned a new chapter.
The Bondurant School
While recuperating, Bondurant developed the concept for a professional high-performance driving school, inspired by his work training James Garner. In early 1968, the Bob Bondurant School of High Performance Driving opened at Orange County International Raceway, later relocating to Ontario, California, and eventually to Sonoma Raceway, where Bondurant played a key role in the circuit’s development.
From the beginning, Nissan (then Datsun in the U.S.) partnered with Bondurant, a relationship that continued for decades at Sonoma. The school became one of the most respected driver training programs in the world.
Bondurant continued competing as well. In June 1969, he and Tony Murphy won the passenger car class at the brutal Baja 500, driving an SC/Rambler for James Garner’s American International Racers, sponsored by American Motors Corporation.
Later racing and teaching
Bondurant made four NASCAR starts, all at Riverside International Raceway, with his best result a 18th-place finish in 1981. Following the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, he relocated the driving school to Phoenix, Arizona, forging close ties with General Motors and Goodyear.
As an instructor, Bondurant trained an extraordinary roster of actors, including James Garner, Paul Newman, Clint Eastwood, Robert Wagner, Tim Allen, Tom Cruise, and Nicolas Cage, shaping some of the most realistic on-screen driving performances in cinema history.
Honours and recognition
Bondurant’s contributions to motorsport were widely recognised. He was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 2003 and later into the West Coast Stock Car Hall of Fame in 2014. Over his lifetime, he earned induction into ten motorsports halls of fame.
Death
Bob Bondurant died on 12 November 2021 in Paradise Valley, Arizona, aged 88. He was survived by his wife, Pat.
A statement released after his death summarised his impact on the sport: Bondurant remains the only American driver to bring home a World Championship trophy while racing for Carroll Shelby. A Le Mans class winner, educator, and mentor, he founded his racing school in 1968, which trained over 500,000 graduates worldwide, including numerous film stars and professional drivers. His influence on motorsport, both on track and in the classroom, endures as one of the most significant legacies in American racing history.
Bob Bondurant Formula One World Championship career
| F1 Career | 1965–1966 |
|---|---|
| Teams | North American Racing Team, Reg Parnell Racing, non-works BRM, Eagle |
| Entries | 9 |
| Championships | 0 |
| Wins | 0 |
| Podiums | 0 |
| Career points | 3 |
| Pole positions | 0 |
| Fastest laps | 0 |
| First entry | 1965 United States Grand Prix |
| Last entry | 1966 Mexican Grand Prix |
Bob Bondurant Teammates
| 6 drivers | Involvement | First Year | Last Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pedro Rodriguez | 1 | 1965 | |
| Richard Attwood | 1 | 1965 | |
| Innes Ireland | 1 | 1965 | |
| Vic Wilson | 1 | 1966 | |
| Dan Gurney | 3 | 1966 | 1967 |
| AJ Foyt | 1 | 1967 |
Bob Bondurant Complete Formula One Results
| Year | Entrant | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | WDC | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1965 | North American Racing Team | Ferrari 158 | Ferrari V8 | RSA | MON | BEL | FRA | GBR | NED | GER | ITA | USA 9 | NC | 0 | |
| Reg Parnell (Racing) | Lotus 33 | Climax V8 | MEX Ret | NC | 0 | ||||||||||
| 1966 | Team Chamaco Collect | BRM P261 | BRM V8 | MON 4 | BEL Ret | FRA | GBR 9 | NED | GER Ret | ITA 7 | 14th | 3 | |||
| Anglo American Racers | Eagle T1F | Climax Straight-4 | USA DSQ | 14th | |||||||||||
| Eagle T1G | Weslake V12 | MEX Ret | 14th |
