Murray Walker

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Image:Murray Walker, motorsports commentator.jpg Graeme Murray Walker (known as Murray Walker; born 10 October, 1923 in Hall Green, Birmingham, UK) is an English motorsport commentator. For most of his career he worked for the BBC, but when it lost the contract for Formula 1 (F1) coverage to the commercial television company ITV, Walker continued his commentating there.

He is extremely famous in the United Kingdom for his enthusiastic commentary style. He regularly made comments (known to many as Walkerisms or Murrayisms) in the heat of the moment that, upon analysis a moment later, were ridiculous; for example, as a car arrived for a pit stop during a race he once said "...I'll stop the startwatch!". He was also an exponent of the commentator's curse, describing how well a driver was racing or that they would win the race, only to have them retire or crash out of the race shortly thereafter.

He commentated on Formula 1 from its early days in the 1950s through to the 2001 United States Grand Prix at Speedway, Indiana. Since his retirement many have missed his distinctive voice, which seemed to rise and fall in tone along with the revving of the car engines.

Walker spent most of his working life in advertising, only commentating full-time after he had passed retirement age. Despite what many people believe, he did not coin the iconic slogan "A Mars a day helps you work, rest and play" although he did create other slogans well-known in the UK. Perhaps more generally known was his Pizza Hut TV advertisement with British racing driver Damon Hill, where, having finished eating his pizza before Damon, he announced "Damon Hill finishes second... again!".

On his retirement Walker was awarded an original brick from "The Brickyard" (the Indianapolis Motor Speedway) by track president Tony George.

In October 2005, it was announced that Walker would be returning to the microphone as the BBC's voice of the new Grand Prix Masters series [1]. After providing the commentary for the inaugural race in South Africa, in January 2006 BBC Radio Five Live announced that Walker would be part of their team for their coverage of subsequent races.

In March 2006, the Honda Racing F1 Team, formerly British American Racing, announced [2] that Walker would become its team ambassador for half of the 2006 season's 18 Grands Prix starting with the San Marino Grand Prix in April. Walker will welcome Honda Racing's VIP guests and entertain them with his unique brand of F1 commentary.

In April 2006, Walker returned to the microphone to commentate the Australian Grand Prix for Australia's Formula One broadcaster Network Ten.

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Famous quotes ('Murrayisms')

"Now we go into lap 53, the penultimate last lap but one."
"Excuse me while I interrupt myself..."
"And at last he passes... No! He's off! I thought he was going to pass but he's overshot!"
"And what a bitter pill that must be to swallow." (An oft-repeated maxim for a driver who makes a mistake that loses him the race.)
"With half the race gone, there's half the race still to go."
"If the gloves weren't off before—and they were—they sure are now!"
"Now he must not go the wrong way round the circuit and unless he can spin himself stationary through 360 degrees I fail to see how he can avoid doing so."
"Now Laffite is as close to Surer as Surer is to Laffite."
"There's a difference of only one second between these two cars ...one... that's how long a second is"
"And Damon Hill comes through to win the Japanese Grand Prix... and I've got to stop, because I've got a lump in my throat..." (Walker for once made speechless with emotion as Damon Hill wins the 1996 Formula 1 World Championship at Suzuka)
"I should imagine that the conditions in the cockpit are totally unimaginable."
" 'If' is a very long word in Formula One; in fact, 'if' is F1 spelled backwards."
" Watch the lights appear to countdown the start! —One light! —Two lights! —Three lights! —Four lights! —Five laps!"
Describing his commentary style: "I don't make mistakes. I make prophecies which immediately turn out to be wrong."
"The interesting thing about this circuit is that it has inclines; not just up, but down as well."
"This has been a mediocre season for Nelson Piquet, as he is now known, and always has been."
"Spin! Spin! Spin!"
"Fire! Fire! Fire!"
"And now I'm going to stop the startwatch!"
"And the track temperature has in fact risen in degrees!"
"Martin Schanche's car is absolutely unique—except for the one following it, which is identical."
"It is so exciting you could cut the atmosphere with a cricket stump."
"Do my eyes deceive me or is Senna's Lotus sounding a bit rough?"
"That's a big one! The car upside down is a Toyota!"
"Tambay's hopes, which were nil before, are now absolutely zero."
"You can't see the digital clock, because there isn't one."
"There are flames coming from the back of Prost's car as he goes into the Swimming Pool!" (The "Swimming Pool" is a chicane section on the Monaco F1 circuit.) Co-commentator James Hunt replied: "That should put them out then!"
"Mansell is gazing at Prost through his microphone!"
"And now the boot is on the other Schumacher."
On how hot tyres become during a race: "I don't know what that is in degrees, but it's damned hot."
"...and for great driving, watch this!" A moment later the car Walker is watching fails to turn into a corner, crashes into a tyre barrier and is out of the race.
"Unless I'm very much mistaken... I am very much mistaken!" (Apocryphal, but used on T-shirts made by the Murray Walker Appreciation Society)
"It's been a very sad day for Michael Schumacher—albeit a happy one"
"It's the first time Schumacher's won here since 1959" (10 years before Michael Schumacher was born)
"Here's the red lights... and it's GO! GO! GO!"
"Schumacher in the Mclaren, Hakkinen in Ferrari" (It should have been Schumacher in the Ferrari and Hakkinen in the Mclaren)
"There is a dry line appearing in the tunnel"