MURRAY WALKER'S FORMULA ONE HEROES

By Murray Walker and Simon Taylor.
Published by Virgin Books.

Let me start by saying that I yield to nobody in my admiration of Murray Walker. For the millions of worldwide TV viewers who tuned in to the BBC/ITV telecast, Walker's enthusiasm, humour, and distinctive voice has made him seem as much a part of Formula One as the cars, drivers, and pint-sized autocratic overlords. It is inevitable that, with retirement finally looming, someone would approach him to do some sort of book – in fact, he must have been approached twice, because in addition to the volume that it currently sitting in front of me, he has also sold the publication rights to his autobiography.

Formula One Heroes basically consists of Murray introducing the reader to the characters in Grand Prix racing that have made the greatest impression upon him during his years in the sport. For the most part the emphasis is on drivers, but Walker does sidestep a little to include a couple of designers, team personnel, and even a handful of circuits.

Walker's selection of 'heroes' is fairly predictable – Fangio, Moss, Clark, Lauda, Hunt, Prost, Senna, Schumacher, etc; while the likes of Colin Chapman, Bernie Ecclestone, and Enzo Ferrari led the ranks of non-drivers that have a special place on Planet Murray.

Every chapter is imbued with the infectious enthusiasm that is a Walker trademark (although with Simon Taylor standing watch, the other Murray trademark – the blooper – is all but absent).

For a casual Grand Prix fan, this book would probably go down a treat. The chapters, brief as they may be, do a fair job of providing an overview of the career of each individual, and shows clearly how each made their particular mark on the sport. As an introduction to the general history of some of Formula One's leading lights, this book is reasonably useful. As an added bonus, it's also both easy and enjoyable to read.

Also, the photos are brilliant. The well-reproduced action and portrait shots lend themselves well to the coffee-table style format that this book takes, and the selection represents some of the best photography in the history of the sport. (My particular favourites are the double-page spread of the drivers briefing at the 1962 Italian Grand Prix featuring Roy Salvadori, John Surtees, Count Carel Godin de Beaufort, Tony Maggs, Innes Ireland, Graham Hill, and Jim Clark; and Jesse Alexander's famous shot of the starting grid at Reims from 1958). Again, for the newcomers, it's a great chance to get good reproductions of some sensational shots collected together in a single volume.

I suspect, though, that more seasoned fans will struggle to get much out of this book. Murray's personal reminiscences are interesting, but they are comparatively sparse. The bulk of the text simply relates the story of personalities whose tales have already been told many times over. And the brevity of each chapter also creates a lot of gaps – when Walker writes about Gordon Murray, for example, he talks about the infamous BT46B 'fan car' without once making any sort of reference to engine cooling which, despite the undoubted aerodynamic benefits, was the contraption's primary purpose. (He also states that the car was banned, which, strictly speaking, is not true).

One of the highlights of the book was Murray's all-too-brief account of his time in the commentary box with James Hunt. (I hope that this period gets the full treatment in the forthcoming autobiography). From the outside, the mix of Walker and Hunt looked an awful lot like the motor racing version of the Odd Couple, and Murray openly admits hat it took some time for him to warm to the 1976 champion. ("I was concerned that I was on my way out, to be replaced by a man I regarded as a drunken Hooray Henry," p. 92). As distressingly short as it is, Walker's description of his time with Hunt is one of the few occasions where the reader is actually treated to the benefits of Murray's extraordinarily close connection with the sport, rather than a generic history of Driver X. The following excerpt might help illustrate what I'm talking about:

"I stand up to commentate, but James used to sit down. We shared one microphone, and with both of us thinking we ought to be using it there were some pretty lively scenes in the commentary box – like the time he tugged the cable when I was in full flow, jerked the mike out of my hand, fielded it, and laconically started to talk. I was livid, and actually had my fist drawn back to thump him, only desisting when I saw producer Mark Wilkin disapprovingly wagging his finger at me." (p. 92).

Ultimately, 'Murray Walker's Formula One Heroes' is simply not substantial enough to satisfy those of you who have followed the sport for a number of years, particularly if you've already read a few other books along the way. For newcomers who may not know Tazio Nuvolari from Mike Hailwood though, it's a very accessible introduction to some of the pivotal names in the sport that will hopefully inspire you to go on and seek out some of the more comprehensive publications that are available.