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Irishman Eddie Jordan typifies the brand of wheeling and dealing team owners who were once as much a part of racing as the cars. Those days are alas gone which makes it even more important that arguably F1’s most charismatic team continues to exist, and even flourish.
Young guns
The young Eddie Jordan was a racer and he became Formula Atlantic champion in Ireland and was a promising F3 driver before he set up Eddie Jordan Racing in 1981.
He moved to England and quickly realised he had more future at managing cars than being in them.
Through Martin Brundle he nearly took the British Formula Three Championship in 1983 after a season-long battle with Ayrton Senna.
He finally took the championship in 1987 through Johnny Herbert and moved up to F3000 The Jordan stable
Jordan has always fancied himself as something of a talent spotter and, after Jean Alesi had been through a tough Formula 3000 year in 1988, Eddie offered the Frenchman a drive in his Camel-sponsored team in 1989.
Alesi repaid him by winning the Formula 3000 championship in fine style, putting both his and Jordan's Grand Prix aspirations on a firmer footing.
It set the tone for EJ who loves to bring through bright young things. The respect is often mutual and has gained the Irishman much sway and influence in the paddock.
Into Formula 1
EJ also fancied himself as a serious businessman and Jordan expanded from his Silverstone industrial unit to premises across the road from Britain's Grand Prix circuit and formed Jordan Grand Prix.
The new team took the plunge into Formula 1 in 1991, when Gary Anderson designed the attractive 191, which turned out to be one of the cars of the year.
In fact, some Jordan opportunism surrounds the car's designation. It was originally dubbed the Jordan 911, but Porsche objected to the use of a type number to which it owns the rights. Jordan allegedly complained that Porsche was putting him to big expense in demanding he change to 191 and reprint all his promotional material. In typical style, he ended up with a Porsche 911 out of the deal!
Bertrand Gachot and Andrea de Cesaris were Jordan's drivers, but the season was disrupted when Gachot sprayed CS gas in a taxi driver's face after an altercation at Hyde Park Corner in London, ending up in jail.
That saw Jordan give Michael Schumacher his first Grand Prix at Spa and unleashed the greatest natural talent since Ayrton Senna.
Sadly, Jordan could not hang on to Schumacher, who was spirited away to Benetton before the next race, a move which left Jordan fuming.
Building the company
Jordan lost their Ford HB engines after embarrassing Benetton however the replacement Yamahas were a disaster. A switch to Brian Hart’s new V10 in 1993 helped, but the real boost came with a works Peugeot deal.
Drivers came and went before Eddie Irvine scored a point on his Grand Prix debut with Jordan in the Japanese Grand Prix.
Finally real success arrived after Anderson produced a gem of a chassis for 1997, and Jordan signed rising stars Giancarlo Fisichella and Ralf Schumacher.
Victory at last
The breakthrough win came in 1998. Schumacher started scoring mid-season and new team-mate Damon Hill went one better when he won the Belgian Grand Prix in a Jordan one-two.
And in 1999 two wins for Heinz-Harald Frentzen boosted the team to third overall. The team were rapidly cementing themselves as a fans’ favourite for their cavalier attitude.
The Brand
Eddie Jordan was becoming EJ: the brand. EJ merchandise extended to bikes, even high energy drinks. And Eddie was also becoming an established celebrity in his own right – when he wasn’t playing drums in his rock band the EJ10s.
Down the years Jordan have come to embody the more fun, glamorous and rock ‘n’ roll spirit in F1.
Unfortunately it wasn’t quite as much fun on the track. Jordan lost their Honda engine deal and switched to Ford, but have pretty much remained off the pace.
One remarkable highlight came in Sao Paulo in 03. Rain and all-round chaos accounted for half the grid before the race was stopped apparently with Kimi Raikonnen in the lead.
The rules were subsequently rechecked leaving Jordan with a fairytale win through Giancarlo Fisichella in the team’s 200th GP.
Changing Times
By the turn of the millennium F1 was changing. Privateers were selling up supplanted by the manufacturers’ millions.
EJ cut a deal but remained in control. It hasn’t been easy. Running a team on a budget of £30m is possible, but to actually compete with the front runners?
Yet Jordan are part of the paddock fabric and its charismatic leader isn’t about to give up.
Drivers: Rubens Barrichello | Gerhard Berger | David Coultard | Giancarlo Fisichella | Heinz-Harald Frentzen | Mika Hakkinen | Eddie Irvine | Olivier Panis | Michael Schumacher | Ralf Schumacher | Jacques Villeneuve
Teams: Ferrari | Jordan | McLaren | Renault | Williams
