Editor’s welcome
When I was a boy and obsessed with Formula 1 car racing, the voice of Murray Walker was, basically, the voice of Formula 1. Though I ‘knew’ Murray, like all of us viewers did, as the over-excited man who talked faster than the cars were going, I learned early on that ‘his dad had been a motorcycle racer’ and that endeared Murray to me even more.
Not only did he know his Bertrand Gachot from his Gerhard Berger, but he also knew the Sunbeam
Model 90 from a Rudge Ulster… his dad Graham competed on both and even won the race that gave that latter mentioned famous motorcycle its name. So Murray was a man who seemed to speak my language.
Much later, having met and when talking to Murray, one always had the sense he was in awe of his father’s achievements, hence he would go along to Beaulieu (where his father curated the motorcycle collection) and present the awards at the annual Graham Walker Run when time allowed (presenting me with a trophy in 2011, below) and displaying a genuine interest in and knowledge of the machines that were taking part in the event, open only to pre-Second World War machines.
I wonder if Murray, on a more recent visit back to the Formula 1 paddock, ever had the conversation with Sebastian Vettel, the German four times world champion and collector of classic motorcycles, about Graham’s achievements? You can bet Murray spoke to Michael Schumacher, Damon Hill and Martin Brundle, all known two wheel fans, about motorcycles, too.
This motorcycling bond runs deep, the shared enthusiasm for two-wheelers that, once acquired, is nigh-on impossible to shake off. I do occasionally stand back and look at a motorcycle and simply think ‘why?’ but then, it all falls back into place again, as soon as we get out for a ride. As I write, in the UK it feels as if we are getting ever-closer to being able to just go out and ride for the sheer pleasure of it once again, with the hope that shows and events will be coming back soon. The excited babble and joy people will find in the spectacle, will be expressed with more hyperbole and perhaps faster delivery than even Murray (Clive James’s ‘Man whose trousers are on fire’) could have managed. Let’s hope it’s not too far away now.