Championship-winning racer, Le Mans class winner and renowned driving instructor to the stars Bob Bondurant passed away on 12 November 2021, aged 88.
Born Robert Lewis Bondurant on 27 April 1933, even as a child he loved speed with his first tricycle, before his father took him to races from the age of eight.
His parents divorced and by the age of 12 he’d persuaded his mother to let him use an electric bike so he could complete his paper round faster; by 14 he had his first Indian ’bike.
Two years later, he was devastated by the death of his mother and went ’bike racing, graduating to car racing aged 23 in a Morgan Plus 4, but it was in Chevrolet Corvettes where he started to make a name for himself. Indeed, between 1961 and ’63, he won 30 out of 32 races in Corvettes.
Bob Bondurant Speedway racing in 1952
From 1963 he joined Carroll Shelby’s team and the following year, with co-driver Dan Gurney in a Shelby Daytona Cobra Coupe, he scored a class win and finished fourth overall at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, arguably his most famous result.
In 1965, he helped Shelby become the first American team to win big on the global stage, with International Championship for GT Manufacturers glory.
