At the Porsche presentation and dinner the night before our drive, the seven other attending journalists and I were assigned to our professional driver for the next day. When Porsche's Bob Carlson read that I was paired with Bobby Unser, I about dropped my drink. What luck? To make matters better, Peter Brock was to be the other scribe driver in our Number 2 black Cayenne Turbo. Brock has a long history in motorsports with development of the Shelby Daytona coupe and the successful Datsun BRE racing team being only a couple of highlights. During dinner, while Unser and Brock chatted about the good old days, I enjoyed talking with Mrs.Unser (Lisa) and learning more about the family's affair with what has been called "Unser Mountain."
The Unser legacy at Pikes Peak began with Louis Unser. Known as the "Old Man of the Mountain," Louis racked up nine wins and set six new records between 1934 and 1953. Bobby Unser first ran the famous "Race to the Clouds" in 1955. In 1956 he broke the track record, recording a 14:27 time in a family-built Jaguar-powered special. Thus began a string of 13 championships (eight of them record-breaking) won in all three divisions: open wheel, stock cars, and sports cars. Bobby's resume also includes three Indy 500 wins, 35 Indy car victories, two USAC National Championships and two International Race of Champions wins, just to name a few. When a guy like this is sitting next to you and he tells you to slow down, you figure he knows what he's talking about.
 This is a Porsche P.R. photo...  This is a Porsche P.R. photo of a Cayenne on top of the peak. It was so cold and snowing when we were up there, I never even saw this sign. |  Looking pretty smug that night...  Looking pretty smug that night before our adventure, the members of "Team Number 2 black Cayenne" pose in front of the hotel. From left: Pete Brock, Bobby Unser, and the author. |  A bit of nostalgia. This is...  A bit of nostalgia. This is Bobby Unser on his way to his first of eight record-breaking runs up Pikes Peak. The year is 1956, and the car is a Jag-powered Unser Special. Things have come a long way in 50 years. |
So it's now 6:00 a.m. and I'm standing back at the starting line, feeling about 3 feet tall. Brock and Unser have just roared off on their drive to the top. Porsche had provided four Cayennes for the eight of us, so there was a wait while we took turns. We each had only one warm-up run and one shot to go all the way up. Brock had opted to ride as passenger on his full run, presumably seeking the thrill of riding with the Champion up his mountain at what I'm sure was a decent clip. Unser didn't cut the Porsche any slack when he was behind the wheel. In my mournful state, I was contemplating doing the same to save face. I pictured the two of them ripping up that damned hill, sliding around those hairpins and Unser lamenting of how that lead-footed, squirrely "kid" was going to kill him on the next run.
The Number 2 car finally reappeared and Brock climbed out with a big smile on his face. Unser jumped out and with a boyish grin, looked me in the eye and asked, "Are you ready to go?" Without hesitation I jumped into the driver seat, donned my helmet, and headed for the starting flag. My head had been pulled out; I was focused.
The flag fell and we were off. Unser had suggested that he work the Tiptronic Automatic, while I concentrated on my lines. OK, fine. We turned off the Porsche Stability Management (PSM) so the car could dance. Fortunately, Porsche provides this on/off feature, allowing the driver to still control the pitch and yaw of the chassis in this ever-increasing world where the driver is being worked out of the driving equation. More on that later. I approached the first series of paved turns and slowed appropriately before the turn in point.
"That's better," Unser quipped.
Then: "Ah, that's how you do it. Good, good."
"Careful now, you were too fast on that one. See how you went deep? Look at how much speed you lost!"
"OK. That's more like it! Now, here comes the dirt. Easy now, don't give it too much throttle coming out of the corner. She'll jump sideways!"
"Very good! Damn, you're a fast learner. This is so much better! Good, good."
"No, too late on that one! Ulp, too much throttle, see how she steeped out? Nice save, though!"