Bob Bondurant, champion race car driver, instructor dead at 88

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. He was 88.

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According to a news release, Bondurant died in the Phoenix suburb of Paradise Valley. No cause of death was released.

Bondurant taught stunt driving, competition driving, police pursuit driving, evasive driving for chauffeurs and bodyguards, plus other skills, according to his school’s website. Some of the stars Bondurant taught for their movie roles included Paul Newman, Tom Cruise, Clint Eastwood, James Garner, Nicolas Cage, Robert Wagner and Tim Allen.

“The team at Radford Racing School is saddened to learn of the passing of Bob Bondurant. We salute a man who channeled his passion, tenacity and talents into every endeavor,” Mike Kessler, the general manager at Radford Racing School, said in a statement. “A champion on the track, he earned a place among the pantheon of racing heroes when he helped America win its only FIA Sports Car World Championship. Bob dedicated his life to helping others develop their driving skills, both on the street and the track, training some of the biggest names in racing, celebrities, professional athletes, and everyday drivers who would go on to credit his teaching methods for keeping them safe behind the wheel.

Bob Bondurant will be missed and his legacy will live on for years to come.”

Bondurant won 30 of 32 races in Corvettes from 1961 to 1963 and won the GT class at Le Mans in 1964, according to The Associated Press. After his car’s steering arm g arm broke at 150 mph and caused a crash in 1967 at Watkins Glen, New York, Bondurant decided to open a high-performance driving school while he recovered, according to a news release.

In 1966, Bondurant helped coach Garner for his role in the movie “Grand Prix.”

He opened the school in early 1968 at California’s Orange County International Raceway and later moved it to Ontario, California, and then Sonoma, according to the AP. Bondurant relocated the school to Arizona after the 1989 earthquake in California.

Bondurant was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 2003. According to his website, Bondurant has been inducted into 10 different motorsports halls of fame.

Robert Lewis Bondurant was born on April 27, 1933, in Evanston, Illinois. His father, John Bondurant, owned two luxury car dealerships in Evanston. When he was 2, the family moved to Westwood Village, California, according to the news release.

Bob Bondurant was the 1959 Corvette driver of the year, and four years later he was working as a helicopter pilot when he was recruited to race Cobras.

Bondurant won the National Corvette title, the Le Mans GT, World Championship and Baja 500 races during his career. Between 1961 and 1963, he won 30 out of 32 races in Corvettes.

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