Bob Bondurant

Bob Bondurant in a Formula 1 Car, 1966
Born	(1933-04-27) April 27, 1933 (age 79)
Formula One World Championship career
Nationality	American
Active years	1965 - 1966
Teams	North American Racing Team, Reg Parnell, non-works BRM and Eagle
Races	9
Championships	0
Wins	0
Podiums	0
Career points	3
Pole positions	0
Fastest laps	0
First race	1965 United States Grand Prix
Last race	1966 Mexican Grand Prix

This article relies on references to primary sources or sources affiliated with the subject, rather than references from independent authors and third-party publications. Please add citations from reliable sources. (November 2011)

Robert Bondurant (born 27 April 1933 in Evanston, Illinois) is an American former racecar driver who raced for Shelby American, Ferrari and Eagle teams.

During his teens, Bondurant raced an Indian motorcycle on dirt ovals. In 1956 he switched to sports car racing with a Morgan and started to attract attention when he won the West Coast "B" production Championship, in a Chevrolet Corvette winning 18 out of 20 races.

Santa Barbara Chevrolet dealer Shelly Washburn hired Bob in 1961 to drive his #614 1959 Corvette. Some of the best Corvette racing duels were between Bob and David McDonald on the West Coast during the early 1960s. At the L.A. Times Grand Prix in October 1962, Bob drove Washburn's new 1963 Corvette Z06 Sting Ray. Between 1961 and 1963, Bob won 30 out of 32 races in Washburn's Corvettes.

In 1963 he became a member of Carroll Shelby's Ford Cobra team, winning his first race at the Continental Divide Raceway in Colorado, followed by an overall win at the LA Times Grand Prix GT race at Riverside in October 1963. For the 1964 FIA season after finishing 2nd in GT at Sebring, Bob was in Europe racing the new 289 FIA Cobras at the Targa Florio, Spa and Nurburgring. Bob's best-known victory was winning the GT class at Le Mans 24 Hours in 1964 in Shelby's new Cobra Daytona Coupe with Dan Gurney co-driving. In 1965 Bob won the FIA Manufacturers' World Championship for Shelby American and Ford, winning seven out of ten races against the class dominating Ferrari 250 GTOs in Europe. In the same year he drove a works Ferrari Formula 1 during the United States Grand Prix at Watkins Glen, and handled a Lotus 33 for Reg Parnell at the following Mexican race.

In 1966 Bob Bondurant served as a technical consultant for John Frankenheimer's epic film Grand Prix and trained the film's lead actor [James Garner] to drive Formula cars in the race sequences. Bob 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.

For 1967 he drove in the CanAm series and in a Corvette L88 Coupe at Le Mans, and 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. Bob 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 Raceway then moved to Ontario and later moved to Sears Point, where he was an important figure in the track's development. Nissan Motor Company (under Datsun in the US) was Bondurant's sponsoring partner in his school from its beginning at and continued in that role at the Sears Point driving school.

In the June 1969 run of the grueling off-road Baja 500 race, Bondurant with co-driver Tony Murphy took first place in the passenger car class driving a SC/Rambler for James Garner's "American International Racers" team that was sponsored by American Motors Corporation (AMC) [1].

Bob Bondurant had four NASCAR starts, all at Riverside International Raceway, with his highest finish of 18th in 1981.

Following the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake he moved the driving school to Phoenix, Arizona, where he enjoys close ties to General Motors and Goodyear Tires.

Bob Bondurant was a driving instructor to actors James Garner, Paul Newman, Clint Eastwood, Robert Wagner, Tim Allen as well as Tom Cruise and Nicolas Cage.

Award[link]

Bob was inducted in the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 2003.

Complete Formula One World Championship results[link]

(key)

External links[link]

• Bondurant Racing School
• Bondurant Kart Racing School
• Bondurant Driving & Racing School Programs
• The Bondurant Methodology
• Bondurant Racing School History
• Bob Bondurant America's uncrowned World Driving Champion (2007, Editions Cotty; ISBN 0-9765247-0-8)
• Bob Bondurant Des Cobra à la Formule1 la meme passion (2008, Editions Cotty; ISBN 978-0-9765247-3-1)

Medal record
Competitor for the  United States
Men's Snowboarding
FIS Snowboarding World Championships
Bronze	2009 Gangwon	Snowboard Cross
Winter X Games
Gold	2011 Aspen	Snowboard Cross
Silver	2012 Aspen	Snowboard Cross

Baumgartner after winning a "Stock Truck" division off-road race in 2011

Nick Baumgartner (born December 17, 1981) is a United States snowboarder from Iron River, Michigan.^[1] He attended West Iron County High School where he was an All-State wrestler in 2000 at 189 pound category. He was also an Upper Peninsula champion hurdler and All-State football player.(3,4)He has competed since 2005. Baumgartner placed first in multiple competitions in 2004. He had competed at the SNX at the USASA Nationals and first at the US Extreme Boardfest. While at the US SBX Championships in 2007 he had placed first. Then he went to the World Cup finals where Baumgartner had been moved down to take the second place title. Then he had been moved down again while competing at the Copper Mountain Revolution Tour where he placed third.

He won a bronze medal in the snowboard cross event at the FIS Snowboarding World Championships 2009 in Gangwon. Baumgartner's first World Cup victory was in Lake Placid, New York in the snowboard cross event in 2008. In 2009 he had earned a bronze metal while at the World Champion competition. He also won the World Cup in March 2011.

He was announced on January 26, 2010 as a member of the United States team for the 2010 Winter Olympics. He competed and did not medal.^[1] In 2010 Baumgartner also competed in the Olympic Winter games and had placed twentieth.

On January 17, 2011, since he was not chosen to attend the next competition, Baumgartner went to train at Copper Mountain where he was in a terrible accident that broke his collar bone. He needed surgery the next day. (2)

In 2011 Baumgartner broke up Nate Holland’s winning streak and his seven-try losing streak. He had done so with fifteen screws and a plate in his neck. After he had won he grabbed his son and said, “To see the look on his face, to have your boy proud of you, there’s nothing better.” (2)

Baumgartner off-road racing in his Stock Truck in 2011

On January 30, 2011, Baumgartner won the gold medal at the Winter X Games XV in Aspen, Colorado.^[2] Later that year he began racing in the entry-level "Stock Truck" class in the Traxxas TORC Series.^[2] He finished in the Top 3 in each of his first three races and he held the points lead mid season.^[2] During the summer of 2011 Baumgartner earned himself the Rookie of the Year while competing in the Traxxas Torc Series Off Road Short Course Racing. <http://www.nickbaumgartner.com/nickbaumgartner.com/Welcome.html>

References[link]

• Nick Baumgartner at the International Ski Federation

<http://www.nickbaumgartner.com/nickbaumgartner.com/Welcome.html>

2. <http://www.nickbaumgartner.com/nickbaumgartner.com/Welcome.html> 3.http://skiing.teamusa.org/athletes/nick-baumgartner 4.http://espn.go.com/action/xgames/winter/2011/news/story?id=6071957 5.