Eddie Jordan
Eddie Jordan | |
|---|---|
 Jordan at a DTM race in 2009. | |
| Born | 30 March 1948 |
| Nationality |  Irish |
| 24 Hours of Le Mans career | |
|---|---|
| Years | 1981 |
| Teams | EMKA Productions Limited |
| Best finish | DNF (24th) |
| Class wins | 0 |
Edmund "Eddie" Jordan, also known as "EJ" (born March 30, 1948) is an Irish former racing driver. He is the founder and owner of Jordan Grand Prix, a Formula One constructor which operated from 1991 to 2005. He is currently the lead analyst for F1 coverage on the BBC.[1]
Biography
Born in Ireland in 1948, Jordan grew up in Bray, County Wicklow, and was educated at Synge Street Christian Brothers School in Central Dublin.
Intending to become a dentist, he ended up working for the Bank of Ireland as a clerk. During a strike in Dublin, he went on holiday to the island of Jersey, where he witnessed and took part in kart racing for the first time.[2]
Motor racing
Racing career
Upon his return to Dublin, Jordan bought a kart and began racing. His first race was at Bouley Bay, Jersey, in 1970; he entered the Irish Kart Championship in 1971 and won it.
In 1974 Jordan moved on to Formula Ford, where he competed for two years, but was forced to sit out the 1976 season when he broke both his legs in a crash. After his injuries had healed, he switched to Formula Atlantic, won three races in 1977, and won the Irish Formula Atlantic Championship in 1978. Jordan and Stefan Johansson raced in British Formula Three in 1979, under the name "Team Ireland". The same year, Jordan drove in one Formula Two race and did a small amount of testing for McLaren.
Team management
At the end of 1979 and short of money, Jordan founded his first team, Eddie Jordan Racing, which ran drivers David Leslie and David Sears in 1981 at various events in and around Great Britain. In 1982 his primary driver was James Weaver; in 1983 Weaver ran again in European F3 and Jordan hired Martin Brundle, who finished second to Ayrton Senna in British F3. In 1987 the team employed Johnny Herbert, who proceeded to win the British Formula Three Championship.
Jordan also entered a Formula 3000 team, whose first wins came with drivers Herbert and Martin Donnelly in 1988. In 1989 the Jordan F3000 team dominated the season and Jordan driver Jean Alesi won the championship.
Formula One
Jordan founded Jordan Grand Prix in 1991 hiring the respected Gary Anderson as Chief Designer. The team quickly gained its respect and punched above their weight on a number of occasions during the season. It should also be noted that Eddie Jordan gave Michael Schumacher his Formula 1 debut in the team's debut season. After one race for the team, Schumacher was lured away to rivals Benetton.
In 1998 the team achieved its best ever result when drivers Damon Hill and Ralf Schumacher finished first and second at the Belgian Grand Prix. In 1999, Jordan achieved their F1 zenith when Heinz-Harald Frentzen became a genuine contender for the championship, ultimately finishing third, the best placing ever of a Jordan driver and accumulating two race wins along the way. He was leading the European Grand Prix, but retired because of electrical problems. Had he won the race, Frentzen would have been within a point of the championship lead with two rounds remaining.
Decline and sale
After losing a Honda engine partnership deal to the BAR team in 2002 and numerous difficulties within the team (including a very public row and the sacking of Frentzen before his home GP), Jordan was forced to switch to expensive Cosworth engines. The added burden of this plus DHL withdrawing their sponsorship and Benson and Hedges toning down their sponsorship soon added up and the lack of funds made his team go from bad to worse in 2003. However despite this, Jordan delivered an improbable race win in Brazil 2003 courtesy of Giancarlo Fisichella, the first for Fisichella and the last Formula One victory for the Ford Motor Company and the Jordan team. In 2001 Jordan sued Vodafone for allegedly breaking a three year sponsorship agreement worth $150 million but lost the case creating further setbacks for Team Jordan.
Jordan's steep fall from the glitzy heights of 3rd in the constructors in 1999 was now out of control. Despite new sponsorship from Trust computers and the addition of "Quick" Nick Heidfeld and a promising young rookie in Timo Glock for 2004, Jordan was in serious trouble. Jordan retained complete ownership of his team until 2004 and his rejections of rumoured approaches for buy outs (most notably from Peugeot and Honda) may have cost the team greater success. Jordan, however, said at the team's final race that they in fact won five times- the fifth being their survival on such small funds.
Team after Jordan
Midland Group, financed by wealthy Russian-Canadian businessman Alex Schnaider, bought Jordan Grand Prix in early 2005, and the team was subsequently renamed MF1 Racing for 2006. The team was sold again in 2006 to Dutch car manufacturer Spyker Cars to become Spyker F1 for 2007, and then sold once more to become Force India in 2008. Force India still competes in Formula One and operates out of Jordan's old premises at Silverstone.
Other motorsports interests
In 2009, Jordan returned to the F1 scene as a pundit for BBC Sport F1 coverage alongside Jake Humphrey, David Coulthard and Martin Brundle.[3]
Jordan wrote a monthly column called 'This much I know' for F1 Racing magazine, until they relaunched with Murray Walker writing instead. Jordan also worked on a TV series called "Eddie Jordan's Bad Boy Racers."[4] In 2007 he was appointed Chairman of Rally Ireland, a round of the World Rally Championship.
Other interests
Jordan loves rock and roll music, and he personally plays the drums. Until 2007 his band's name was V10. A cut down version of the band is currently gigging at various venues around the world under the name of "Eddie & The Robbers". Jordan is a fan of Coventry City and has been linked with takeover bids for the club.[5] Jordan is also a Celtic FC shareholder[6] Jordan's other sporting interests include golf and horse racing, where he has horses in training with Mouse Morris.[4]
He has several other companies still owned partly or wholly by himself, including the vodka brand Vodka V10 and the energy drink brand EJ-10
Jordan has written an autobiography, "An Independent Man", which was published in May 2007.[7]
Personal life
Jordan suffers from alopecia as a result of a racing accident sustained during his youth.[8] As such, he is a noted wig wearer; carrying three to simulate hair growth.[9]
Married to Marie, a former Ireland Under-18 basketball player, the couple have four children. Their main base is in Ireland where Jordan keeps his personal helicopter, and he has homes in Wentworth,[4] South Kensington, London and Monaco, where he keeps his yacht.[2] In March 2012, it was announced that Jordan had received an honorary OBE for services to charity and motor racing[10].
Jordan is a patron of the child cancer charity CLIC Sargent.[4]
References
- ^ "BBC's Formula 1 team". BBC News. 2011-01-17. Retrieved 2011-04-01.
- ^ a b Macauley, Ted (2001-04-15). "TRUE GRID; Ten years ago Irishman Eddie Jordan was going nowhere fast". Sunday Mirror. Retrieved 2010-05-17.
- ^ "Coulthard, Jordan & Brundle join BBC". BBC News. 2008-11-24. Retrieved 2010-05-01.
- ^ a b c d "The Big Interview: Eddie Jordan". London: Sunday Times. 2006-08-13. Retrieved 2010-05-17.
- ^ Eddie Jordan - I'm not City Saviour www.cwn.org.uk Retrieved 14 November 2006
- ^ "O'Neill invests £2m in Celtic". BBC News. 2001-07-31. Retrieved 2010-05-01.
- ^ Jordan, Eddie (2007). An Independent Man. Orion Books. ISBN 978-0-7528-8950-4.
- ^ Eddie Jordan: From the Grand Prix to charity [1] Retrieved 5 May 2009
- ^ Dron, Peter (2003-10-25). "Keep your hair on, Eddie!". The Daily Telegraph. London.
- ^ http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/17542926
External links
