THE MAN HIMSELF!
Blame where blame's due: Andrew Henry who is one of the best-informed
regulars on rec.autos.sport and keeper of the FAQ, started off this
collection; I put it on the Web and have been collecting additions to it
for the last few years. Mail me (pete.fene...@zetnet.co.uk) your
Walkerisms! Implicit ackonwledgements are due to everyone who's got
quotes listed on the page, to everyone who's got quotes I'm still sitting
on, and to everyone involved in bringing Murray to our screens.
Murray Walker is the commentator for much British motorsports coverage
including F1 on ITV and the BTCC on the BBC. He is a motorsports
enthusiast. He is also prone to spouting rubbish in the heat of the
moment in spite of his vast experience of commentating for Grand Prix
racing. According to those who've met him, he's a nice bloke too.
For a while it looked as though 1996 would represent the last chance for
us to hear the great Muddly Talker in action as the BBC have lost the
television rights to F1, but it's been confirmed that he will be joining
ITV to do their commentary - just think of the opportunities for
idiosyncratic commentary which will be offered by the dreaded Commercial
Breaks.
In fact, Murray adapted brilliantly to the change of environment, and
partnered by the excellent Martin Brundle whose dry wit and in-depth
knowledge of F1 his commentary continues to reach new heights. Long may
he continue to befuddle, confuse, excite and infuriate us -- racing truly
won't be the same without him.
All Murray fans should try to get hold of a copy of the brilliant
Murray's Magic Moments video -- a couple of hours of great F1 nostalgia
from Murray's days with the Beeb, including some of the more famous
mistakes here. As a history of the last 20 or so years of F1 it's
fantastic....
For an excellent retro on Murray's time at the mic on Grand Prix, look no
further than the article in AUTOSPORT on 24/10/96, or for an excellent
interview, look at Motor Sport's January issue.
Apparently Murray has seen this page and enjoyed it!
Without further ado -- here's the quotes!
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Sorry about the delays in updating towards the back end of the '97 season
-- changs of address, work, computers and pretty much everything else
conspired to delay updates. Anyway, keep mailing the updates in for '98.
Counter, for those who like 'em. (Installed 29/4/97).
Here we go:
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"He's obviously gone in for a wheel change. I say obviously because I
can't see it"
"With half the race gone, there is half the race still to go"
"Do my eyes deceive me, or is Senna's Lotus sounding rough ?"
"Anything happens in Grand Prix racing and it usually does"
"Alboreto has dropped back up to fifth place"
"As you look at the first four, the significant thing is that Alboreto is
5th"
"I can't imagine what kind of problem Senna has. I imagine it must be
some sort of grip problem"
"He is shedding buckets of adrenalin in that car"
"It's raining and the track is wet"
"And there's just a few more corners for Nigel Mansell to go to win the
Canadian Grand Prix...and...he's going rather slow....HE'S STOPPING HE'S
STOPPING!"
"and this is the third placed car about to lap the second placed car"
"they say clothes maketh the man... the clothes are Niki Lauda's, but the
contents are me..." as Murray prepares to take a drive in a F1 car." [He
gets a total distance of... oh, 1 foot before he stalls it.] (Apparently,
this was the second attempt to film Murray in an F1 McLaren - the first,
earlier that day, had gone very well, but for technical reasons couldn't
be used!)
[During a F1 race, describing how the leader can see the driver following
him] "... Mansell can see him in his earphone..."
"So Bernie [Ecclestone], in the seventeen years since you bought McLaren,
which of your many achievements do you think was the most memorable ?"
Bernie Answers, "Well I don't remember buying McLaren." [Bernie
Ecclestone used to own the Brabham team].
Murrary: "What's that? There's a BODY on the track!!!" James: "Um, I
think that that is a piece of BODY-WORK, from someone's car."
Murray: There's a fiery glow coming from the back of the Ferrari James:
No Murray, that's his rear safety light
As an introductory piece for a rallysprint race, Murray was put in the
Navigator's seat alongside Tony Pond in a Chevette HSR (270 BHP, rwd, and
TWITCHY), added an in-car camera, and wired Murray for sound. The result
can be deduced by extrapolating his usual excitement and enthusiasm, and
adding a large pinch of raw terror! "And there's a 600 foot drop on my
left..AND we're doing 120 mph... AND we're approaching a hairpin...OH MY
GOD we're going to die..."
[after a post race interview with Mansell after the Austrian GP 1987]
Murray : "How did you get that nasty bumb on your head Nigel?" [Nigel
leans forward to show the camera as Murray pokes it with his finger !]
Nigel: "OWCH!!"
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And these are from Sylvan Smyth:
"...Cruel luck for Alesi, second on the grid. That's the first time he
had started from the front row in a Grand Prix, having done so in Canada
earlier this year..."
James: "And now what's wrong with Prost's car?"
Murray: "It's not Prost's car it's that joker in the striped shirt!"
"Ah! Now here's Senna in the pits (for the black flag). No point in
saying I wish I could lip read: I can't even see his lips! There's Ron
Dennis bending over at the right. This is A-! Out gets Senna! For
whatever reason and I just hope we can get a message about this. I hope
we can get a message. Ayrton Senna with, with rage and impotent fury
etched in every line of his body, reluctantly drags himself out of the
McLaren." (In reality Senna calmly stepped out of the car and walked
away.)
"Well let's, uh, lugsh, luxurrriate in a little hypothesis and try to
work out what, if anything, is wrong with Alain Prost." (Prost was being
caught by Berger late in the race.) "Has he got tire problems? Very
unlikely. Is Prost having fuel trouble? Well, who knows? I think it's a
bit unlikely. Is Prost having gearbox trouble? I can't tell you. And
since P, uh, Prost is unlikely to come on the radio and let me know
you'll have to guess along with me."
"ANNDD! We have a, uh, I - (laughing) - I, uh, I'm S- (still laughing). I
have to eat humble pie again, for all the people out there. Uh, we have a
lap scorrring problem and, uh, I have to rather lamely tell you that, uh,
it's still Gerhard Berger in 2nd place. It's Berger in 3rd position. In
four- in- in-. Um, Boutsen in 3rd position..."
"That's 55 laps completed by both Prost and Berger and and and and and
the expeeerrrienced Alain Prost is really responding."
Sylvan Smyth again: I only replayed my Brazilian GP tape because I
vaguely remembered Murray saying "and" five or six times in a row several
years ago. I had forgotten what a Murrayism gold mine that race was. Some
people don't like Murray. I think some people should switch to decaf...
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And here are some from Clive Stonebridge:
"And there's the man in the green flag!"
"The Jordan factory is at the factory gates"
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And some from me:
Murray: And look at the flames coming from the back of Berger's McLaren
James: Actually, Murray, they're not flames, it's the safety light.
Murray, commentating on rallycross from Lydden, describes how a BMW
driver has cut holes in his windscreen so that his visibility is improved
in all the muck... as he is doing so, the car crashes heavily into an
earth bank...
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Mike Griffiths: reports:
"...and there's no damage to the car.....except to the car itself."
"The beak of Ayrton Senna's chicken is pulling ahead"
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Helen Gerald adds:
'and I interrupt myself to bring you this....'
and the catchphrase 'Unless I'm very much mistaken....I AM very much
mistaken!'
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Colin Reed has spotted the following:
"This is an interesting circuit because it has inclines, and not just up,
but down as well."
"Only a few more laps to go and then the action will begin, unless this
is the action, which it is."
"This has been a great season for Nelson Piquet, as he is now known, and
always has been"
"And the first five places are filled by five different cars."
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Kevin Lee's observations:
"...the lead is now 6.9 seconds. In fact it's just under 7 seconds"
"Tambay's hopes , which were nil before, are absolutely zero now."
"You can't see a digital clock because there isn't one."
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Stu Soltysiak:
"...and Blundell is doing very well in sixth position...in fact he's
lapping 2.5 seconds faster than Blundell who is in fifth position" [PF:
Given the trouble Murray had with Brundle and Blundell perhaps it's
fortunate that Mark's racing in the USA now. How on earth will he cope
with Schumacher and Schumacher?]
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Anthony Long adds the following:
"The Italian GP at Monaco..."
"I'm applying intelligence and observation to the situation..."
"Schumacher's appeal for ignoring the chequered flag is next Tuesday."
...the ...
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