SPORTING COMMENTATING GAFFES BY MURRAY WALKER

 

Murray Walker is a former Formula One (F1) motorsport commentator. For most of his career he worked for the BBC, but when it lost the contract for F1 coverage to the company ITV, Walker continued his commentating after the change of broadcaster.

He has a distinctive, enthusiastic commentary style. Since 1978, British television commentary of the Formula 1 seasons has been used by other broadcasters right around the world, including Australia and Japan.

He is known for comments in the heat of the moment that could have a humorous interpretation; for example, it has been stated that as a car arrived for a pit stop during a race he uttered a Spoonerism by saying "...I'll stop the startwatch!". Of an injured, absent driver "He's watching us from hospital with his injured knee." When Nigel Mansell's tyre blew in the closing stages of the final race of the 1986 World Championship in Adelaide, depriving Mansell of a chance to win the title, he exclaimed "...And look at that!...".

And in his distinctive style, here are some more Walkerisms!

• I should imagine that the conditions in the cockpit are totally unimaginable
• We now have exactly the same situation as we had at the start of the race, only exactly the opposite
• Excuse me while I interrupt myself
• Just under l0 seconds for Nigel Mansell. Call it 9.5 seconds in round numbers
• With half the race gone, there is still half the race to go
• How you can crash into a wall without it being there in the first place is beyond me
• Do my eyes deceive me, or is Senna's Lotus sounding rough?
• He is shedding bucket loads of adrenaline in that car
• Ralf Schumacher now screaming ahead with Hakkinen breathing down his exhaust pipe
• The lead car is unique, except for the one behind it. Which is absolutely identical
• "..and Damon Hill is following Damon Hill"
• "Mansell is slowing it down, taking it easy. Oh no he isn't! It's a lap record."
• "Jean Alesi is 4th and 5th"
• "If I was Michael Schumacher.... which of course I am not..."
• "And we have had 5 races so far this year, Brazil, Argentina, Imola, Schumacher and Monaco!"