Bob Bondurant

Who is Bob Bondurant?

Robert Bondurant 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.