Four-time Indianapolis 500 winner Al Unser Snr died yesterday, 9 December, having lived with cancer for 17 years; he was 82.
Born in Albuquerque, New Mexico, he was the youngest of four brothers, all of whom were racers, despite the fact that Jerry, the oldest and the first of the family to drive at Indianapolis, was killed during practice for the 1959 Indy 500, at the age of just 26.
Al was closest in age to Bobby, who’d also go on to win the Indy 500, in his case in 1968, 1975 and 1981. The passing of Bobby in May and then that of his son Bobby Unser Jnr, Al's nephew, in June, has made 2021 an annus horribilis for this famous racing family.
Al Unser Snr on 29 May 1971, en route to his second consecutive Indianapolis 500 win
The first of Al’s Indy 500 wins came in 1970, for Vel's Parnelli Jones Racing, and when driver and team repeated that feat 12 months later, Al became just the fourth-ever racer to win the Indy 500 back-to-back – and he did so on his 32nd birthday.
