This week we have recognised the passing of Bobby Unser, three-time winner of the Indianapolis 500, at the age of 87 years-old (Three-Time Indianapolis 500 Winner Bobby Unser Dies at 87). Unser had an association with New Zealand as patron of our very own Race to the Sky hillclimb.
We tend to associate the Unser name with the Indianapolis 500 race and so we should. Bobby Unser won at the Brickyard three-times (1968, 1975 and 1981) and is one of only ten drivers to have done so. His brother, Al Unser, is a four-time winner and nephew Al Unser Jr, a two-time winner.
The Unser family also have history at the iconic Pikes Peak hillclimb. Unser won 13 class titles at Pikes Peak and earned “King of the Mountain” honours 10 times during his career as the fastest driver overall up the famed mountain, topping his brothers’ nine overall victories.
It was at Pikes Peak that original Race to the Sky (1998-2007) race-director and organiser Grant Aitken met Unser and struck up a friendship.
“He and his wife, Lisa, came out to New Zealand and stayed in Central Otago in order to see where the Race to the Sky’ was held (in Cardrona), “commented Aitken. “Although we were never able to get him here to compete, we wanted him to be involved, so formally appointed him Patron of the event.
“Once we visited and stayed with him at his home in Albuquerque (New Mexico), and I remember that very single horizontal surface, in his home, had a trophy on it!
“I remember, at Pikes Peak, he told me that one summer, as a youth, he had a job driving a bus up and down the Pikes Peak road, two to three times a day. That is one of the reasons why he was so good at the climb as he got to know the road intimately.”
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