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The Guardian
20-03-2025
- Automotive
- The Guardian
Eddie Jordan was one of F1's biggest characters, we're all going to miss him
I still remember when Eddie Jordan and I met at the end of 1986 at a motorsport awards dinner. He approached me and asked if anyone had spoken to me about driving for them the following year. I told him no one had and so on the back of a napkin, before the end of the awards, we agreed to come together for 1987 when we would go on to win the Formula 3 British Championship together. I still believe if he hadn't given me that chance in Formula 3, I'm not quite sure I'd have had that success or would have got to Formula One without him. During that year, I got to know the real Eddie Jordan. You can see the Eddie that was on TV and when he was a team owner but when I went down to Sotogrande, to his place in Spain with his family that we became close. He was just a brilliant host and he made all his drivers feel very, very comfortable within the walls of Eddie Jordan Racing as it was at the time and of course then later with the F1 team, when he brought in Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill amongst many others. What was also impossible to ignore was his work ethic; looking back, it's no surprise that he achieved what he achieved. His work ethic was continuous, all day and sometimes, literally, all night. There was always a deal to be done and there was always this passion for it. We won together in 1987 and that gave him more drive to get himself through to his ultimate dream, which was Formula One. But he grafted for it, it wasn't given to him on a plate, he had to go out there and find that sponsorship that he needed to keep racing. When we did Formula 3000 together in 1988, at the first race we had one sponsor on the car and it was plain white, nothing else on it. I got pole position and that evening Eddie phoned up Duncan Lee, who was head of Camel cigarettes at the time. Duncan wasn't interested in sponsoring us, so Eddie banged on until basically Duncan went: 'Okay, you can have a meeting on Tuesday'. Eddie went away to another team, got a Camel sticker, stuck it on the side of the car on the Saturday night and I went out and won, so he had a photo of me winning the race, which he took to the meeting on Tuesday and got the Camel sponsorship for the next two years. So it was the graft and the thought process. Having the meeting is one thing but then to think: 'Right, I get a sticker, stick it on, if we win the race, Camel's all over the car'. That was what was so wonderful about the wheeler-dealer side of him. He was always thinking out of the box, always trying to think of new ways with his team to be able to promote himself, the brands that he had on board, his partners and that was very refreshing at that time and a lot of people have taken on board what he did in that early nineties period. His strength was also in the team he had chosen. When they were in the factory he made sure that he and they were on the same page and there was a togetherness. Everybody had a free and open situation in their particular jobs and that got the best out of people on that limited budget. He had a lot of trust, Eddie looked after everybody and that just gave them a really good feel and there was a lot of love, because that was his type of character that he had, he was never, ever shying away from his emotions. He'd be hard when he needed to be but he also knew very well that he needed to keep everybody motivated, happy in the job that they were doing, so there was respect, both ways. Jordan F1 were the underdogs, they were the ones that were there or thereabouts and then got very close to winning the drivers and constructors' championship with Heinz-Harald Frentzen in 1999. They were the underdogs everybody loved because there was just something about them that drew you in. Look at the pictures of the British Grand Prix in 1995 after I won. Eddie had the truck with his band, Nick Mason was on the drums, Eddie was on the drums, Damon was playing guitar, me doing tambourine as that was the only rhythmic thing I could sort of play. It wasn't Formula One but the fun and the people that it dragged in after the race was brilliant and he loved it. He loved that ability to enjoy what he was doing and the limelight that went with it all. That was why he was so refreshing, so very charismatic and the energy that he brought into the paddock is something that we are still benefiting from today. Eddie was one of the last of those successful characters who came in and he was probably one of the very last team owners who was also running the team, very, very involved with all the decision making that was going on. The way that he did it made it that much more special. He achieved so, so much with not the biggest budget on the grid and that is something that earned respect. There's a lot of respect for what Eddie achieved on track just as there's a lot of respect for what Eddie did off track with his TV career. I will miss him massively. I think we will all miss him, to be honest. We all have memories in different ways of what he was like but it was the energy that he gave all of us at the end of the day. He was one of the biggest characters we had in the paddock and his popularity is going to live on for sure.
Yahoo
20-03-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Eccentric F1 Team Boss Who Gave Michael Schumacher His Debut Dies Aged 76
Ex-Formula 1 team boss and the brains behind Michael Schumacher's 1991 F1 debut in Belgium, Eddie Jordan, has died aged 76. The team boss turned TV presenter revealed last year that he had been diagnosed with bladder and prostate cancer, which had spread to his spine and pelvis. Jordan's family confirmed that the F1 star died on March 20 in Cape Town, South Africa, reports the Guardian. The Irishman's family said he "passed away peacefully with family by his side," in a statement shared with the site: "EJ brought an abundance of charisma, energy and Irish charm everywhere he went. We all have a huge hole missing without his presence. He will be missed by so many people, but he leaves us with tonnes of great memories to keep us smiling through our sorrow." Read more: Joey Logano Penalized By NASCAR For Wearing A Webbed Glove To Gain Aero Advantage Jordan didn't start his career in motorsport with the aim of becoming a TV pundit one day. Instead, he started racing karts in Ireland, and went on to win the Irish championship in 1971 -- his first entry into the series, reports the BBC. After tasting the winners champagne, Jordan then worked through the ranks racing in Formula Ford in 1974 and Formula 3 a year later. After breaking his leg during a crash, the Irishman hung up his racing gloves for a few years, before making a comeback in Formula Atlantic and winning three races in 1977. Greater on-track success wasn't Jordan's to chase, however, and he switched to team management, setting up his own racing outfit for the F3 and Formula 3000 championships. Over the years, he fielded drivers like Johnny Herbert and Jean Alesi in the junior categories. Herbert and Alesi weren't the last big names to drive in Jordan's cars, and with the launch of Jordan Grand Prix in 1991 the Irishman made the step up to Formula 1. Over the course of 15 seasons, the team fielded an impressive roster of talent, as F1 explained: Jordan famously gave Michael Schumacher his F1 debut during that '91 campaign, with many other big-name drivers – including the likes of Rubens Barrichello, Martin Brundle, Damon Hill and Jean Alesi – racing for the squad over the years. The team picked up its first podium with Barrichello at the wheel in 1994 and scored its first victory at the 1998 Belgium Grand Prix. At its peak, Jordan placed third in the 1999 Formula 1 season with drivers Damon Hill and Heinz-Harald Frentzen. Jordan ultimately sold his stake in the F1 team in 2005 after a decline in performance and sponsorship. It went through several name changes in the years since and formed the basis for the Aston Martin team that's on the grid today. Following his departure from the sport, Jordan built a name for himself as an eccentric TV presenter. He regularly appeared on Formula 1 race weekend coverage as a pundit and even having a stint on the revived BBC show "Top Gear" after the departure of Jeremy Clarkson and co. Jordan also served as manager for famed F1 designer Adrian Newey and was said to be instrumental in negotiating the deal that saw Newey leave Red Bull and join Aston Martin. Maybe that was one last effort to secure the legacy of the team he started in Formula 1? Want more like this? Join the Jalopnik newsletter to get the latest auto news sent straight to your inbox... Read the original article on Jalopnik.
Yahoo
20-03-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Former F1 Team Boss, Pundit Eddie Jordan Dies at 76
Former Formula 1 team boss Eddie Jordan has died at the age of 76, his family announced on Thursday. Jordan had been battling an aggressive form of prostate cancer for the last 12 months. The gregarious, flamboyant and outspoken Jordan had a wealth of business interests, but it was in motor racing—more specifically Formula 1, where the Irishman made his name and built his legacy. After putting the brakes on his own promising career 'EJ' founded his eponymous team, which raced in Formula 3 and Formula 3000, before taking on Formula 1 in 1991. It was an era in which a plethora of enthusiasts attempted to take on Formula 1, with start-up teams swiftly falling by the wayside, but Jordan was a rare success story for independents. Jordan immediately established a presence in Formula 1, with the green-liveried 191 widely regarded as one of the most beautiful racing cars in history, and the tidy machine was sufficient to give the debutant team fifth place in the championship. Jordan also handed a 1991 mid-season debut to eventual seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher. By the mid-1990s Jordan had established itself as a fiercely independent team in Formula 1's midfield, taking on bigger, wealthier and more straight-faced teams, and in 1994 claimed its first podium finish and pole position courtesy of Rubens Barrichello. It was in the late 1990s when Jordan, completed with its iconic yellow liveries, peaked, and in a rain-hit Belgian Grand Prix Damon Hill led Ralf Schumacher for a 1-2 finish, with EJ dancing down the pit lane in delight. Heinz-Harald Frentzen claimed two victories and contended for the title in 1999, with Jordan securing its highest-ever finish of third in the championship. Jordan's fortunes waned into the 2000s and, despite Giancarlo Fisichella adding a fourth and final win to the team's record books at a rain-lashed Brazilian GP in 2003, Jordan sold up at the end of 2004. Across a 14-year stint Jordan Grand Prix started 250 Grands Prix, with four victories, 19 podiums, and two pole positions. The ex-Jordan team eventually evolved into Aston Martin and still occupies the same Silverstone campus—which has recently been expanded—at which Jordan initially set up shop. After leaving team ownership Jordan returned to a prominent position in the paddock as the lead pundit and analyst for the BBC's Formula 1 coverage from 2009 to 2015, a role he briefly continued for Channel 4. He also co-hosted a podcast with ex-F1 racer David Coulthard. Jordan was also a music enthusiast, known for playing the drums and the spoons, and was a keen cyclist and sailor, and retained wide-ranging business interests through to his death, most recently his purchase of London Irish Rugby Club. 'We are deeply saddened to hear about the sudden loss of Eddie Jordan,' Formula 1 CEO Stefano Domenicali said in a statement. 'With his inexhaustible energy he always knew how to make people smile, remaining genuine and brilliant at all times. Eddie has been a protagonist of an era of F1 and he will be deeply missed. In this moment of sorrow, my thoughts and those of the entire Formula 1 family are with his family and loved ones.' Andy Cowell, Team Principal of Aston Martin, also paid tribute to Jordan. 'Eddie Jordan was one of the all-time motorsport greats,' Cowell said. 'He was a one-off, a wonderful human being, and a charismatic leader who founded this team and took it to F1 in 1991. His vision laid the foundations for us and he leaves a lasting legacy for the entire motorsport community. Today we pay tribute to a legend of the sport and our thoughts are with his family, friends, and colleagues."
