PARADISE VALLEY, Ariz. (AP) — Bob Bondurant, a former champion race automobile driver who opened a high-performance driving college in 1968 and taught quite a few A-list actors for his or her film roles, has died. He was 88.
Based on his household and the Bondurant Racing Faculty web site, Bondurant died Friday within the Phoenix suburb of Paradise Valley. No explanation for dying was launched.
Bondurant taught stunt driving, competitors driving, police pursuit driving, evasive driving for chauffeurs and bodyguards, plus different abilities, in response to the web site. His college has had over 500,000 graduates, it mentioned.
Among the many celebrities Bondurant instructed in highway course driving for his or her film roles have been Paul Newman, Tom Cruise, Clint Eastwood, James Garner, Nicolas Cage, Robert Wagner, Tim Allen and Christian Bale, in response to the web site.
Born in Evanston, Illinois, Bondurant and his household moved to California when he was 2.
He raced bikes on grime tracks as a teen earlier than switching to vehicles in 1958 and racing for the Shelby American, Ferrari and Eagle groups.
Bondurant gained 30 of 32 races in Corvettes from 1961-63, and he gained the GT class at Le Mans in 1964, co-driving with fellow American Dan Gurney.
Badly injured in a 1967 crash on the racetrack in Watkins Glen, New York, Bondurant drafted an thought for a high-performance driving college whereas recuperating.
He opened the varsity in early 1968 at California’s Orange County Worldwide Raceway, then moved it to Ontario, California, and later Sonoma, north of San Francisco.
Bondurant relocated the driving college to Phoenix following the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake in California.
He was inducted into the Motorsports Corridor of Fame of America in 2003.
Bondurant is survived by his spouse, Pat, who’s president and CEO of the Bondurant Racing Faculty. She vows to proceed the legacy of the varsity.
“Bob Bondurant has had a worldwide affect on the motorsports business, and his legacy will dwell on eternally because the Bondurant Racing Faculty strikes ahead into the longer term,” Phoenix Raceway President Julie Giese mentioned in an announcement.
Funeral plans weren’t instantly out there Sunday.
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This story has been up to date to appropriate the spelling of Nicolas Cage’s first title.
