An old-school Irishman of fast wit and vibrancy, was a determine whose affect touched each nook of ’s most-famed paddock over a 30-plus-year profession within the sport.
From a promising race driver and savvy group proprietor to a fascinating broadcaster and erudite supervisor, Jordan’s on Thursday, after a year-long battle with most cancers, has despatched shockwaves by means of a sport now in its pomp.
F1 has not at all times been in such good stead, although. It has wanted influencers and trendsetters: these keen to place their neck (and extra importantly, their funds) on the road for a shot at victory, and to offer determined drivers an opportunity within the cockpit. Jordan was definitely a kind of.
Born in Dublin in 1949, Jordan was given the nickname ‘Flash’ in his childhood, owing to his surname rhyming with the identify and superhero Gordon. No flash-in-the-pan although, he dismissed the route of turning into a priest on the age of 15 and household strain to enter dentistry. As a substitute, he took a six-week accountancy course and started working on the Financial institution of Eire – a job which gave him his first perception into the artwork of negotiation.
But because the Seventies decade started, Jordan opted for pastures new. He started karting and received the 1971 Irish Kart Championships earlier than shifting by means of the ranks in Components Ford and Components Two. He was fast, however not fast sufficient, and shortly based his personal junior group – through which he handed drives to and Johnny Herbert.
However his most vital driver deal – not that he was to comprehend it on the time – got here proper at the start of his 14-year profession as a Components 1 group proprietor.
In want of a driver on the 1991 Belgian Grand Prix after Bertrand Gachot was despatched to jail for attacking a taxi driver, Jordan agreed a deal to signal a promising younger German driver, who was a part of Mercedes’s sportscar programme.
His identify was .
‘First, he lied to me – I had requested him if he had ever been to Spa,” Jordan stated, of giving Schumacher his debut.
“I meant, in fact, if he had pushed there earlier than. He merely stated ‘sure’. Okay, he wasn’t dishonest, however he had by no means raced there. If I had recognized that, I wouldn’t have let him drive.
“For my part, it was unimaginable to get to know essentially the most troublesome observe and a brand new automotive in a single weekend. His seventh place on the grid was subsequently distinctive. His skilled team-mate [Andrea] de Cesaris, who wasn’t precisely thought-about sluggish on the scene, didn’t stand an opportunity. Seventh place was like pole place for us.”
Whereas Schumacher needed to retire from the race on account of a clutch problem, a star had been born. Jordan had an settlement to retain Schumacher for the remainder of the season however enigmatic Italian Flavio Briatore swooped, snatching the German driver for Benetton – the place he would go on to win the primary two of seven world titles.
“Welcome to the piranha membership,” McLaren boss Ron Dennis advised Jordan after Briatore’s transfer. To this present day, it’s a phrase synonymous with the no-holds-barred deadlings of the F1 paddock.
Nonetheless, Jordan loved loads of success over 250 races as a group boss till a money shortfall led to promoting up in 2005. The spotlight was a one-two end, again at Spa, in 1998 with Damon Hill taking the chequered flag. Embarrassingly, the Irish nationwide anthem was not performed on the rostrum because the FIA couldn’t discover a copy of Amhran na BhFiann in time; fortuitously, the cock-up was remedied a 12 months later on the French GP.
The ultimate 12 months of the century noticed Jordan at its peak: they achieved their highest end of third within the constructors’ world championship, with their driver Heinz-Harald Frentzen ending third as nicely within the drivers’ standings.
However as a brand new century dawned, that was pretty much as good because it bought. Giancarlo Fisichella claimed the group’s last win in Brazil in 2003 earlier than Jordan bought his group to Midland Group for $60m. That group, after quite a lot of identify modifications, is now Aston Martin. In a full circle second, Jordan final 12 months toured Aston’s new £200m Silverstone manufacturing facility the place his group was primarily based 20 years earlier, as he brokered Adrian Newey’s from Crimson Bull.
A bigger-than-life, cheeky and sometimes sassy determine, away from racing Jordan had a softer, heartfelt aspect. The Irishman was a patron of CLIC Sargent, the UK’s main most cancers charity, and raised hundreds of thousands of kilos alongside spouse Marie. He acquired an OBE in 2012 for companies to charity and motor racing and in 2021, acquired the Freedom of the Metropolis of London.
His last years within the paddock had been nonetheless performed out in entrance of the cameras. Alongside presenter Jake Humphrey and ex-F1 driver David Coulthard, his flamboyant punditry type enraptured him to F1 followers within the UK watching the BBC’s free-to-air protection on the finish of the noughties.
His knack for a scoop, together with his endless listing of contacts, made him an enormous asset; certainly, he predicted Schumacher’s return to Mercedes in 2010 and Lewis Hamilton’s transfer to the identical group in 2013. His ostentatiousness made him a marmite determine with F1 supremo , although the pair at all times had an affable relationship.
But Jordan continued to exert his highly effective ideas and messaging proper as much as his unhappy dying in Cape City on Thursday morning. Solely final month, when discussing main a consortium to purchase London Irish rugby membership out of administration, he speaking about his chemotherapy. Beforehand, he urged folks to get screened for most cancers early.
“This can be a little message to everyone listening to this, don’t waste or put it off,” he stated. “Go and get examined, as a result of in life you’ve got possibilities. Go and do it.
“Don’t be silly. Don’t be shy. Take care of your physique, guys.”
That was what ‘EJ’, who additionally performed the drums in a band known as Eddie and the Robbers and carried out on-stage at Silverstone, was all about. His phrases struck a chord with a complete vary of individuals from all walks of life.
“I used to be ridiculously critical, however I had this facade, I had this character that wanted to be performed out,” Jordan advised Gentleman’s Journal in 2020.
“I used to be the Irish joker, I used to be jack the lad. And I hoped they wouldn’t take me too significantly. It was a extremely great recreation. And so they by no means twigged how critical we really had been.”
A grasp of persuasion and appeal, who rose from nothing to stroll the stroll inside F1’s greater circles, he might be sorely missed and tributes might be keenly felt this weekend on the Chinese language Grand Prix.
