Murray Walker

Graeme Murray Walker (born 10 October, 1923 in Hall Green, Birmingham) is a former motor sport commentator. For most of his career he worked for the BBC, but when they lost the contract for Formula 1 coverage to ITV, Walker switched over to the commercial company.

Famous quotes (Walkerisms)

• "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."
• "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."
• Describing his commentary style: "I don't make mistakes. I make prophecies which immediately turn out to be wrong."
• "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 (a chicane section at Monaco Circuit)!" (To which James Hunt replied "That should put them out then!")
• "Prost can see Mansell in his earphones!"
• "And now the boot is on the other Schumacher."
• "Unless I'm very much mistaken... I am very much mistaken!" (apocryphal but used on T shirts made by the Murray Walker Appreciation Society)
• "...And for great driving, watch this!" Within one second the car to which Walker is referring promptly fails to turn into a corner, instead crashing into a tyre barrier and out of the race.