RIP Murray Walker

ancapailldorcha

Murray Walker, the unmistakeable voice of Formula One back in the day has passed away:

Former Formula 1 commentator Murray Walker has died at the age of 97.

Walker commentated on his first grand prix race for the BBC at Silverstone in 1949 and became a full-time F1 commentator in 1978.

He became synonymous with the sport over more than 30 years of commentating on it, first with the BBC and later with ITV.

A hugely popular figure in F1, Walker ended his 52-year commentary career when he retired in 2001.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/56388596

His enthusiasm and love for the sport really enhanced it when he was commentating in my opinion. RIP.

Zebra3

Driving cars isn't a sport.

Gatling

The Voice of F1 .....

Rip sir had the pleasure of meeting him several times throughout the years as well as listening to hundreds of his commentaries a true gentleman and legend

circadian

Zebra3 wrote: »

Driving cars isn't a sport.

Alright, care to elaborate?

corner of hells

Zebra3 wrote: »

Driving cars isn't a sport.

Racing cars is.

Your Face

Zebra3 wrote: »

Driving cars isn't a sport.

Sad auld post.

Wanderer78

rip and thank you for amazing memories

Montage of Feck

Zebra3 wrote: »

Driving cars isn't a sport.

It's the only sport, apart from bullfighting, the others are mere games. Well according to Hemingway anyway.

Heard he hadn't been firing on all cylinders recently.

Hyperbollix

The British Peter Collins. RIP

ted1

My favourite line
Unless I'm very much mistaken... I am very much mistaken!"

Arthur Daley

A good innings for Murray. Along with 'The chain' by Fleetwood Mac will be forever associated with F1 coverage in the 70s, 80s and 90s.

Montage of Feck

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-yo8_hUeV2g

Mental Mickey

Montage of Feck wrote: »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-yo8_hUeV2g

Remember playing that game on my brother's Nintendo

Strumms

His knowledge, enthusiasm as well as his desire to inform, entertain and captivate are I guess for me what made him great.... you could tell that this was a guy.. loving every second of his job, the sport and commentating for F1 fans....

Nowadays sports broadcasters and commentators are just all handpicked from the village of blandsville with the main purpose of not offending anybody... Murray was different... incidentally somebody changed his year of birth on Wikipedia earlier to 1908... probably would have gotten a bit of a laugh at that...

amacca

Arthur Daley wrote: »

A good innings for Murray. Along with 'The chain' by Fleetwood Mac will be forever associated with F1 coverage in the 70s, 80s and 90s.

F1 just doesn't seem like F1 anymore to me.

It's all so sanitised nowadays.

Andrewf20

amacca wrote: »

F1 just doesn't seem like F1 anymore to me.

It's all so sanitised nowadays.

I agree. Hermann Tilke makes nothing but tedious pointy cornered circuits which doesnt help. And when Murray left, a bit of the old F1 nostalgia left with him.

Murray is another pillar of my youth that's now pass away . Scary to think its nearly 27 years since I watched him on the BBC news talking about Senna's death announcement earlier that evening.

o1s1n

Zebra3 wrote: »

Driving cars isn't a sport.

Huge strain on the body driving cars at that speed, both physically and mentally.

Richard Hillman

Montage of Feck wrote: »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-yo8_hUeV2g

Loved that game. I did many a full race on it.

Wibbs

I literally googled Murray yesterday as he came to my mind and sad to see him gone, but it was a long life well lived and he gave great entertainment and information to millions of people to all over the world who were fans of all sorts of motorsport, not just F1. The drivers loved him too.

o1s1n wrote: »

Huge strain on the body driving cars at that speed, both physically and mentally.

Back in the 90's as far as I recall there was some survey into looking at fitness levels in different sport, cardio, strength, endurance, flexibility and the like and F1 drivers were right up in the top section. It's incredibly punishing and requires crazy levels of skill and a large dose of fearlessness. Not a sport my arse. :rolleyes: Try doing it sometime.

Montage of Feck

The man just exuded enthusiasm and enjoyment for the sport. The modern joyless statistics driven commentary is a real turn off in comparison, they really don't make them like murray anymore.

Wibbs

amacca wrote: »

F1 just doesn't seem like F1 anymore to me.

It's all so sanitised nowadays.

Yeah, mostly because it's far safer and it's computerised out to feck so bugger all passing and general hijinks. It can be difficult to see the skills of the drivers. Compare it to this era, the early 1970's and Jackie Steward commentary on a lap of the Nurburgring(seven odd minutes a lap in his day).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=agajiJOtlyc

That is bloody scary to watch. There were far fewer safety features on that track compared to today and at one point there was even a stream that would flood part of the track. It's basically a road and a dodgy one at that. As he says himself if he walked the track and thought about it he'd never race it, but it's best not to think about it. Then again I have clear memories as a small child back in the seventies of horrific crashes and deaths. Niki Lauda's crash springs to mind. The guy was near death. They announced his death a couple of times on the day. He was in hospital fecked. His lungs were so burnt they had to physically scrape his airways to try and clear it. :eek: he lay in and out of life for days, but slowly came back. Not so slowly, the mad bastard was back in a F1 car by the end of the same season still wearing special burns bandages. Hard. As. Fcuk. Not a sport... :rolleyes:

Not a sport? Yet a bloke running the 200 metres is(and it is)? The level of skill and training and sheer unadulterated balls to do that especially back then was unimaginable. Ovaries too. Check out Michele Mouton peddling group B rally cars in the 80's Holy jumping fcuk! :eek: Our own Rosemary Smith was no slouch in the gigantic ovaries dept either. A few years back she became the oldest person to ever drive a Formula 1 car. As you do. Legend. Not a sport my hairy left one.

dublinman1990

Ah no. I'm pretty sad to hear about his passing this evening. The 90's was the 1st time that I loved F1 from the very start. Thanks for all the memories Murray. You will be missed. RIP.

.anon.

I think - when people say "it's not a sport" - what they actually mean is "I don't like it".

Poor old Murray. His Snooker commentary was something to behold.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zl-oAsDCGNA

barney shamrock

Watching F1 since the late 70s/early 80s.
So many memories, and Murray Walker was the voice of those memories.
Thanks Murray.
RIP.

Coneygree

amacca wrote: »

F1 just doesn't seem like F1 anymore to me.

It's all so sanitised nowadays.

Bring back the v12s or even v10s, where you'd nearly get hearing loss thru the television screen. Cars running out of fuel from drivers running on instinct and pushing too hard. Gutsy, creative strategies to outwit your rivals. Engineers doing everything and anything to get an edge by exploiting loopholes. And this doesn't even factor in the incredible pure race craft and hard racing that went on.

Nowadays it's a case of computers running the show so that there's no surprise or unknown factor in a race, cars that sound like hoovers, predictable race strategies and the same overtaking manoeuvres every race no matter the track, authorities sapping all ingenuity and creativity away from teams by banning everytbing, and over the top safety measures. All combined with hideous repetitive commentary. Murray was better off not being any younger, it'd be an insult to him.

I still watch due to the love I had for the sport as a young boy but I desperately hope they do something to make it exciting again. Interest has increased in recent years after a horrid slump in the post Schumacher days so I fear they'll play it safe and keep things the same.

crosstownk

RIP Murray.

I was a big F1 fan back in the 1990s/2000s and Murray was the soundtrack. I went to Hockenheim in 2002 - great experience but I lost interest in F1 as time went by.

His autobiography 'Unless I'm Very Much Mistaken' is a decent read.

josip

Aaand, it's go go go..

jimbobaloobob

There’s nothing wrong with the car except that it’s on fire.
He always had the classics.

Rip

amacca

amacca wrote: »

F1 just doesn't seem like F1 anymore to me.

It's all so sanitised nowadays.

Same as a lot of things really. Sanitised, homogenised, commodified.

Wibbs wrote: »

I literally googled Murray yesterday as he came to my mind and sad to see him gone, but it was a long life well lived and he gave great entertainment and information to millions of people to all over the world who were fans of all sorts of motorsport, not just F1. The drivers loved him too.

First celebrity death in a while that's hit me really. Turns out he was an only child and had no kids so himself and the wife were in a care home. Martin Brundle said the last time he rang him he asked how he was and he said "Not great to be honest but I won't bore you with the details. So what's happening in Formula 1?".
Even seeing him the odd time in his 90s he was as sharp as anyone I've seen at that age.

Back in the 90's as far as I recall there was some survey into looking at fitness levels in different sport, cardio, strength, endurance, flexibility and the like and F1 drivers were right up in the top section. It's incredibly punishing and requires crazy levels of skill and a large dose of fearlessness. Not a sport my arse. :rolleyes: Try doing it sometime.

My ould lad said right back in the 80s (maybe 70s, I dunno) that the F1 drivers were always right at the top. Just had a look at smoking and drinking James Hunt got 3rd one year. :pac: Just have to look at Schumacher (and plenty of others) in the 90s and look at their necks while probably hovering around 10% bodyfat.

JupiterKid

Sad to hear of Murray Walker’s passing - he was the voice of Formula One racing on the telly all my life. My late dad used to watch the motor racing at the weekends on the TV and Walker’s voice was a part of childhood weekend memories.

97 is fantastic innings. RIP.

Psychedelic Hedgehog

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JwkU7dw-yWc

Quantum Baloney

Montage of Feck wrote: »

It's the only sport, apart from bullfighting, the others are mere games. Well according to Hemingway anyway.

Poor writer to be fair. No wonder they were his favourite 'sports'.

Mental Mickey

.anon. wrote: »

I think - when people say "it's not a sport" - what they actually mean is "I don't like it".

Poor old Murray. His Snooker commentary was something to behold.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zl-oAsDCGNA

Snooker commentary??

glenfieldman

Zebra3 wrote: »

Driving cars isn't a sport.

What do you regard as a sport ?

interlocked

I have no time for Formula I, it's dependent upon engine manufacturers.

Formula One drivers on the other hand are some of the most amazing athletes on the planet in terms of the demands on their body and reaction time.

But no other athlete is so constrained by their instrument.

Murray Walker on the other hand was a hysterical hyperbollix that became a parody of commenting

Otherwise famous for inventing "A Mars a Day makes you work hard and play"

Hangdogroad

Wasnt it work, rest and play?

ancapailldorcha

interlocked wrote: »

I have no time for Formula I, it's dependent upon engine manufacturers.

Formula One drivers on the other hand are some of the most amazing athletes on the planet in terms of the demands on their body and reaction time.

But no other athlete is so constrained by their instrument.

Murray Walker on the other hand was a hysterical hyperbollix that became a parody of commenting

Otherwise famous for inventing "A Mars a Day makes you work hard and play"

I began to lose interest when it seemed that Michael Schumacher (a very decent guy by all accounts) won every race. Then they kept tinkering with the rules.

MrCostington

Murray, James and The Chain WAS Formula 1 to me and I'm sure many others.

Re the Mars slogan, he did not write that, he has said so himself. I can't find the interview but he sure did come up with many others.

Re F1 not being a sport, did the poster have to say that on an RIP thread ....

Excellent answer to that by Wibbs.

It may not be know by many here but Murray's first passion was bikes, his dad was a TT rider.

Anyway, he and James can fight over the mic once more now

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8wVOvBYs9U

maestroamado

One of the GREATEST...

fryup

tbh thought he died years back,

RIP made grand prix exciting even when it was boring the mark of a genius commentator

Bob Harris

josip wrote: »

Aaand, it's go go go..

Aaand, it's gone gone gone....

BrianD3

Not just a F1 commentator, some may be unaware of his other work e.g. the British Touring Car Championship. Maybe more suited to his commentary style than F1 due to far closer racing than F1

I'm going for first

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QI8litf5a2s

padd b1975

josip wrote: »

Aaand, it's go go go..

"Or as they say in France......eh.....something.
I don't speak French ".

Manic Moran

His first visit to the Nurburgring came long before he was an F1 commentator. He was cruising through the area from the commander's hatch of a Sherman tank.

I can only imagine what his wireless calls were like. "The barrage has lifted, and it's go, go, go for the assault!" "Unless I'm very much mistaken, there's a german gun in that treeline.... and I -am- very much mistaken, it's a Panzer!"

Andrewf20

ancapailldorcha wrote: »

I began to lose interest when it seemed that Michael Schumacher (a very decent guy by all accounts) won every race. Then they kept tinkering with the rules.

Agreed, after the year 2000 it was brutal bad. I lost complete interest.

gormdubhgorm