On the recent Ford Focus Estate drive, which was based at Goodwood, my driving colleague and ‘plane buff, suggested we should call in at the small Tangmere aviation museum.
Run by unpaid enthusiasts Tangmere was, during the Second World War, one of the frontline Spitfire bases that along with Goodwood, and others, proved vital in the ‘Battle of Britain.’
As we were about to leave, I spotted an elderly gentleman whose face rang a distant bell somewhere in my memory banks that sounded even louder when I heard his American accent. One of the museum guides nudged me and handed me a card “Do you know who he is?” Turning the card over it read simply “Bobby Unser.”
Bobby’s over here to drive his 1981 Indy 500 winning Penske PC9B up the hill. He and his wife are keen fliers and were enjoying a little bit of nostalgic R&R at the museum and we enjoyed a good 30 minutes of chat especially about Indy and Pikes Peak where, he told me, he had been Walter Röhrl’s mentor in 1987. And Pikes Peak today? “Not what it used to be, it’s all pavement these days,” he said somewhat derisorily.
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