The Truth About Christian Bale's Intense Training For Ford V Ferrari

It wasn't easy for Christian Bale to prepare for director James Mangold's Ford v Ferrari, but it was worth the effort. Looper recently spoke with Ford v Ferrari stunt coordinator Robert Nagle about how he made the veteran actor road-ready. Here's the truth behind Bale's intense training for the pic. 

To teach Bale how to drive like a real racer, Nagle sent the former Dark Knight to the Bondurant High Performance Driving School in Arizona. For seven days, Bale spent seven hours on the track, learning how to drive thanks to lessons from Nagle's hand-picked instructor. But that was only part of Bale's education, and there was a reason why Boundurant was the place Bale did his first phase of Ford v Ferrari prep. 

Nagle explained:

"Part of the reason I picked Bondurant [was that] Bob Bondurant was an icon from that era and was a big part of that GT40 program."

Two years before Ken Miles' history-making performance at the 1966 automobile event, racecar driver Bob Bondurant completed 334 laps at the 1964 24 Hours of Le Mons. Like Miles, Bondurant was driving a car designed by Carroll Shelby, the engineer whom Matt Damon plays in Ford v Ferrari. 

"Just shut your mouth and let me do my thing. Alright."

It was enough to win the GT class at the event, but not the overall race. Naturally, a Ferrari came in first. For a full week, Bondurant regaled Bale and Nagle with stories from the Ford v Ferrari era of the mid-1960s. Nagle estimated that Bale and Bondurant chatted for four or five hours a day. To Nagle's surprise, Bondurant was also close friends with Miles, and had plenty of insights to share about the late star. Keep watching the video to find out more of the truth about Christian Bale’s intense training for Ford v Ferrari.

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Back to driving school | 0:15
One hell of a final exam | 1:42
Getting real | 2:54