Missing Murray magic

Sir,

I have been a regular reader for the past 40 years, greatly enjoying my Motor Sport in many different corners of the world. A couple of articles in the April issue have prompted me to write — at last.

Your 100 Things That Made F1 Great (April 2003) was a super selection and how right you are about slicks and driver aids having a major impact on Formula One. But surely Murray Walker’s infectious enthusiasm merits inclusion. Nowhere was it more apparent than the golden era when James Hunt provided the laconic corrections to Murray’s gaffes. What a shame that pairing was taken from us in its prime.

Elsewhere in the same issue I was re minded by Nigel Roebuck’s Legends piece on Jim Clark of that never-to-be-forgotten Sunday afternoon when the unbelievable news came over the public address as we were filing out of Brands Hatch after the BOAC Six Hours, where Clark would have been driving but for some oil or tyre contract obligation. The death of my schoolboy hero — who could forget his Lotus Cortina at Snetterton’s Esses? — came as a shock of the same proportions as the assassination of John F Kennedy a few years earlier. I can still recall the chilled silence that descended over the crowd.

I am, yours etc,
John Prescott, Leidschendam, Netherlands