Bob Bondurant R I P

A man who did a lot for motorsports - Rest in Peace

https://www.yahoo.com/autos/bob-bondurant-champion-driver-even-014900143.html 

RIP a life very well lived

That sucks- I met Bob a few times early in my career- he did an event on our proving grounds, and then he stopped by his own school for the new classes.  Great guy.

In reply to alfadriver :

I talked to him at a SEMA show ages ago; seemed very down to earth. Read his book when I was around 16. Rest in peace Bob.

Ouch

Bob drove me and several other people around a track for familiarization if you hadn't raced there before. We were in a rental full size van. He lost all four hubcaps as he drifted the corners and they had to send someone out to find them and pick them up. Good driver who could talk, point, and drive one handed all at the same time.

wspohn said:

Bob drove me and several other people around a track for familiarization if you hadn't raced there before. We were in a rental full size van. He lost all four hubcaps as he drifted the corners and they had to send someone out to find them and pick them up. Good driver who could talk, point, and drive one handed all at the same time.

That's no lie. I met him in 1994 and rode in a back seat of a rental Taurus sho as we went around a small parking lot course.... even the best college kid was 3 seconds off his time... 

The school always had a booth at the S.F. International Auto Show, and a significant percentage of my childhood daydreams were about going to the Bondurant school at Sears Point. Made a heck of an impression for someone I never actually interacted with beyond reading his stuff or stuff about him...

There are very few people in this world that have a passion for sport or hobby that put themselves in the position to share that passion and make it a reality with so many others. Even if it's just for a weekend to give them a taste. Bob did that. He gave more back to the sport that he loved than he could've ever been possible to take for it. He gave people careers within the sport, And helped make those around him perform better. I tip my hat to any such individual. 

captdownshift (Forum Supporter) said:

There are very few people in this world that have a passion for sport or hobby that put themselves in the position to share that passion and make it a reality with so many others. Even if it's just for a weekend to give them a taste. Bob did that. He gave more back to the sport that he loved than he could've ever been possible to take for it. He gave people careers within the sport, And helped make those around him perform better. I tip my hat to any such individual. 

To think that it took an event that almost cost him his life, and a long hospital stay that resulted in much of that.  Amazing guy.

Jesse Ransom said:

The school always had a booth at the S.F. International Auto Show, and a significant percentage of my childhood daydreams were about going to the Bondurant school at Sears Point. Made a heck of an impression for someone I never actually interacted with beyond reading his stuff or stuff about him...

I went to the school after graduating from college. I remember riding around the course at Sears Point in a van with the instructor before they let us loose with our own cars. It was an incredible experience. 

In reply to alfadriver :

That's how you make adjustments that most would consider a loss and reevaluate things and turn it into a victory. The ability to recognize such opportunity and pivot is how to be successful in execution of ideas. Others likely previously had the idea of driver's instructional schools, but they didn't have the ability to overcome obstacles in their way or to pivot potential concerns into opportunity. 

To be a type A personality but to have the ability to see larger and adjust as needed, before hitting a roadblock, is a rare and powerful thing. He likely would've dominated stage rally, where nothing goes according to plan. 

All you have to say is Bondurant and car guys know.

Entering into the way-back machine.

1986, I was a high school senior, new autocrosser and subscribed to this relatively new magazine Auto-X.  It took a couple of SCCA monthly meetings to hear about this neat new magazine from the "in the know" crowd, the ones that made the trek to Salina that I looked up to.  The spring or summer issue had a sweepstakes to win a registration to the Bondurant school and lodging.  I had the book, the one with the Mustang wheels up over the curb.  Before there was YouTube, Bob was teaching me the art from afar.

I was the lucky winner.  It took a while to get connected since I was away at school.  While my friends were planning their Florida beach spring break, I was planning my trip out west.  My ever-generous parents agreed to pay for the flight since everything else was covered.  March 1987 I was on my way.

I was at least half the age of the next guy there.  Mostly police officers, some new Ford engineers and a couple of older west coast dudes.  I remember the van ride with Bob showing us Sears Point, hustling that van faster, it seemed, than we would drive the school cars.  Spent half a day in stock LTD's on the skidpad covered with used motor oil and Dawn.  The instructor controlled which brake to apply and how much.  Once the wheelspin from the 1-2 shift stopped, you gave about 15 degrees of steering input and then had to react to what came next once a brake locked.  They were just starting to experiment with outrigger cars where they could change corner loading to see if they could get away from the oiled course since it made such a mess of everything.

When it came time for car selection, there were only two Mustangs and the rest Merkur XR4Ti's.  I was young and a faster walker, so I grabbed a Mustang.  Spent a couple of hours heel and toe shifting down the drag strip.  Evasive maneuvers where there were three lanes and lights that flashed to red or green (or all red when the instructors knew you needed more).

Last day was track time and ended with a couple of hours of lapping.  First time I exceeded 100mph.

I wish I could remember the instructor's names.  A great set of guys that recognized I was the only one in the class with racing aspirations, so they gave me more guidance and stayed late to teach racecraft and passing.

Thank you, Bob, and thank you Auto-X Magazine.

In reply to Ranger50 :

There must have been some kind of youth-oriented Ford Performance tour of college campuses that year.  Ford came to Ohio State and they set up a course in the north St John Arena lot.  Bob Bondurant was there and took four or five kids at a time on laps of the course in a freaking Windstar and I'm thinking "wow, this guy is smoooooooth."

Then you lined up to do a lap in a Mustang GT, a Probe, or an Escort GT - all automatics.  The line for the Escort was shortest, so that's what I drove.  They posted times on a white board with a Sharpie.  I asked who had FTD and the guy smiled and said, "Bob in the Windstar, on his first run of the day, when he had nobody in the van with him."