F1With BBC Gunnar Nilsson & George Harrison MurrayWalker


"Almost every weekend George Harrison, the Beatle, used to come and sit with us while we were editing the programme. "Towards the end of 1978, Gunnar Nilsson, the Swede who drove for Lotus and won the


Belgian Grand Prix, came in. The reason Gunnar came in was that he had been diagnosed with cancer. He had had the chemotherapy and he was as bald as an egg, and he was dying, and he knew he was dying. But he still came in and watched the programmes, talked to us and was full of fun and good humour, and actually started the Gunnar Nilsson Cancer Treatment Trust Fund. After the last race of the year, I left the commentary booth and Gunnar and George Harrison were in the editingroomoutside. "Gunnar said, 'Goodbye Murray, I won't see you again'. I knew what he meant, but I said,


'Don't be silly, Gunnar. I will see you next season; you must come in again next year, we have enjoyed having you.' I never saw him again." [George Harrison released a single to raise money for theFund]


"'He's behind you!' FIA President Max Mosley is an extremely contentious personality but Formula One needs a strong man at the top and, in Max, it certainly has one. As a successful single-seater driver, a Formula One car manufacturer (March), a successful barrister and Bernie's friend and confidente, the much-feared, charming


and urbane Mosley has led a tremendously distinguished life. Unlike many, I have a gigantic admiration and respect for him and for what he has achieved.”


"My friends, the stars! Future World Champion, Nigel Mansell, Grand Prix driver and later to be my co-commentator Jonathan Palmer and five-times Grand Prix winner, John Watson, now TV commentator for the A1 series, and a jolly good one too. We were at the BBC Sports Review of the Year.”


"1980 was a wonderful year for me, for Williams and for Britain. BBC TV's Formula One coverage was going like gangbusters and outspoken Australian Alan Jones won the World Championship for Williams in spite of the efforts of his brilliant Argentine team mate, Carlos Reutemann (here), to stop him doing so. They were not the best of chums." (ChrisWillows)


Well-Intentioned Hospitality MurrayismMurrayismMurrayism


I make no apologies for their absence. I'm sorry they're not here.


MurrayWalker Scrapbook Jonathan Martin


"Quite often we'd have guests in to watch the race live. I think the Petersons lived somewhere in the south of England and Ronnie's wife Barbro came in to watch the Italian GP. When the accident happened, it was a very difficult experience for all of us. We vowed after that that we'd work without guests. It was not a happy experience to say the least becauseweobviously still had to getonand produce a television programme."


89


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11