Formula 1 Wiki

READ MORE

Formula 1 Wiki
Advertisement

Robert "Bob" Bondurant (April 27, 1933 – November 12, 2021) was an American racecar driver who raced for the Shelby American, Ferrari, and Eagle teams. 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. His Bob Bondurant School of High Performance Driving has been responsible for training generations of American racing drivers.


Formula One Career[]

1965[]

1966[]

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. Bondurant was one of two drivers (alongside Graham Hill) to help extricate Jackie Stewart from his fuel-leaking wrecked car during the 1966 Belgian Grand Prix, the incident that led to Stewart's crusade for motor racing safety. Bondurant also drove BRMs in five Grands Prix for Team Chamaco Collect, finishing 4th at Monaco. He finished the Formula One season in North America in two races, driving an Eagle for Dan Gurney's Anglo American Racers.

1967[]

In 1967, he drove in the CanAm series and in a Corvette L88 Coupe at Le Mans. At Le Mans he led the GT class until a wrist pin failed putting the car out in the early morning. Later that month while driving a McLaren, at Watkins Glen, the steering arm broke at 150 mph approaching the Loop-Chute section of Watkins Glen (the current Turn 5, but without the bus stop, which was installed in 1992). Bondurant sustained serious rib, leg, foot and, most seriously, back injuries in the subsequent accident in which his car flipped eight times. Doctors told him he would likely never walk again, but through courage and hard work he overcame his injuries.

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. 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. 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.

1971[]

Death[]

Bondurant died in Paradise Valley, Arizona, on November 12, 2021, at the age of 88. He was married to Pat, who survived him at the time of his death.[1]

A statement on his death reads, in part, "Bondurant is the only American to bring home the World Championship trophy back to the U.S. while racing for Carroll Shelby. He won his class at Le Mans and has been inducted into ten motorsports halls of fame. 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. His legacy will remain with us forever."

Formula One Statistical Overview[]

Formula One Record[]

Year Entrant Team WDC Points WDC Pos. Report
1965 United States North American Racing Team Ferrari 0 NC Report
United Kingdom Reg Parnell Racing Lotus-BRM
1966 United Kingdom Team Chamaco-Collect BRM 3 14th Report
United Kingdom Bernard White Racing
United States Anglo American Racers Eagle-Climax
Eagle-Weslake
1967 United States Anglo American Racers Eagle-Weslake 0 NC
19681970: Did not compete
1971 United States Competition Developments Lola-Chevrolet* Non-championship only
  • Italic donates as non-championship entries.
  • * Classified as a Formula A entry.

Career Statistics[]

Entries 11
Starts 9
Pole Positions 0
Race Wins 0
Podiums 0
Fastest Laps 0
Points 3
Laps Raced 403
Distance Raced 1,741 km (1,082 mi)

Career Results[]

Complete Formula One Results
Year 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Pts Pos
1965 Flag of South Africa 1928-1994 Flag of Monaco Flag of Belgium Flag of France Flag of the United Kingdom Flag of the Netherlands Flag of Germany Flag of Italy Flag of the United States Flag of Mexico 1934-1968 0 NC
9th Ret
1966 Flag of Monaco Flag of Belgium Flag of France Flag of the United Kingdom Flag of the Netherlands Flag of Germany Flag of Italy Flag of the United States Flag of Mexico 1934-1968 3 14th
4th Ret DNA 9th Ret 7th DSQ Ret
1967 Flag of South Africa 1928-1994 Flag of Monaco Flag of the Netherlands Flag of Belgium Flag of France Flag of the United Kingdom Flag of Germany Flag of Canada Flag of Italy Flag of the United States Flag of Mexico 1934-1968 0 NC
DNA
Key
Symbol Meaning Symbol Meaning
1st Winner Ret Retired
2nd Podium finish DSQ Disqualified
3rd DNQ Did not qualify
5th Points finish DNPQ Did not pre-qualify
14th Non-points finish TD Test driver
Italics Fastest Lap DNS Did not start
18th Classified finish (retired with >90% race distance) NC Non-classified finish (<90% race distance)
4thP Qualified for pole position [+] More Symbols

References[]

Images and Videos:

References:

V T E Teams and Drivers
1965 Teams and Drivers
Teams Alfa Special • Brabham • BRM • Cooper • Ferrari • Honda • LDS • Lotus
Engines Alfa Romeo • BRM • Climax • Ferrari • Ford • Honda
Non-works Entrants R.R.C. Walker Racing Team • DW Racing Enterprises • Reg Parnell Racing • John Willment Automobiles • Otelle Nucci • Lawson Organisation • Scuderia Scribante • Ted Lanfear • Ecurie Tomahawk • Scuderia Centro Sud • Bob Gerard Racing • Ian Raby Racing
Drivers Amon • Anderson • Attwood • Bandini • Baghetti • Bandini • Bassi • Bianchi • Blokdyk • Bondurant • Bonnier • Brabham • Bucknum • Bussinello • Charlton • Clark • Gardner • "Geki" • Ginther • Gregory • Gubby • Gurney • Hailwood • Hawkins • Hill • Hulme • Ireland • de Klerk • Lederle • Love • Maggs • McLaren • Mitter • Niemann • Pieterse • Pretorius • Prophet • Puzey • Raby • Rhodes • Rindt • Rodríguez • Rollinson • Scarfiotti • Serrurier • Siffert • Solana • Spence • Stewart • Surtees • Tingle • Vaccarella
1966 Teams and Drivers
Teams Brabham • BRM • Cooper • Ferrari • Honda • Lotus • Matra • McLaren • Shannon
Engines BRM • Climax • Cosworth • Ferrari • Ford • Honda • Maserati • Repco • Serenissima • Weslake
Non-works Entrants Reg Parnell Racing • Team Chamaco-Collect • Bernard White Racing • R.R.C. Walker Racing Team • Anglo-Suisse Racing Team • DW Racing Enterprises • David Bridges • Caltex Racing Team • Tyrrell Racing Organisation • Roy Winkelmann Racing • Martinelli-Sonvico • Chris Amon Racing • J.A. Pearce Engineering
Drivers Ahrens • Amon • Anderson • Arundell • Baghetti • Bandini • Beltoise • Bondurant • Bonnier • Brabham • Bucknum • Courage • Clark • "Geki" • Ginther • Gurney • Hahne • Herrmann • G. Hill • P. Hill • Hulme • Ireland • Ickx • Irwin • Lawrence • Ligier • McLaren • Mitter • Moser • Parkes • Rees • Rindt • Rodríguez • Scarfiotti • Schlesser • Siffert • Solana • Spence • Stewart • Surtees • J. Taylor • T. Taylor • Wilson
v·d·e Nominate this page for Featured Article
Advertisement