Edmund Patrick Jordan, who has died aged 76 while undergoing treatment for cancer, was an energetic entrepreneur who brought a disruptive touch of rock and roll to Formula 1 in the 1990s.
Born in Dublin, Jordan flirted with the idea of joining the priesthood in his youth before embarking on a career in finance – more specifically, becoming a clerk at the Bank of Ireland. But Jordan was born to hustle, and this humdrum job could not contain him.
When a strike left him needing to earn money elsewhere Jordan relocated to Jersey, working two jobs to get by. It was there he encountered motorsport in the form of karting at the Jersey club’s Belle Vue circuit in St Brelade.
Upon his return to Ireland, Jordan began competing – first in a kart, then in Formula Ford and Formula 3 – with mixed success. It was only a short hop from counting money to spending it. Nevertheless, racing became his prime focus, and he developed side hustles to augment his day job as a means of sustaining it.
In 1978 Jordan won the Duckhams-sponsored, Mondello Park-based regional Formula Atlantic championship as well as the BP-backed All-Ireland championship which took in races at Kirkistown, near Bangor on the Ards peninsula. This was the catalyst for Irish racing legend Derek McMahon, who had supported Derek Daly towards F1 and would subsequently do the same with the likes of David Kennedy and Tommy Byrne, to recruit Jordan for his 1979 British F3 campaign alongside Stefan Johansson.
Eddie Jordan with Stefan Johansson
Photo by: Sutton Images
This was the season where ground-effect aerodynamics arrived in F3, albeit in a very basic way. McMahon appreciated Jordan’s commercial savvy and soon gave him more responsibilities in team management; on track, though, Eddie was shown the way by the likes of Nigel Mansell, Mike Thackwell, Andrea de Cesaris and Chico Serra, despite a mid-season upgrade to the March 793 chassis which best exploited ground effect.
Potential sponsors were attracted by Jordan’s penchant for blarney but somewhat less engaged by his results on track, so Eddie abandoned the cockpit and founded his own eponymous team in 1980. It was a hand-to-mouth operation, especially in its early seasons, but Eddie Jordan Racing created opportunities for a young Ayrton Senna and Martin Brundle as well as Byrne.
That wasn’t quite the end of Jordan’s racing career, though. Eddie had a passion for music – he was a keen and able drummer – and joined Pink Floyd manager Steve O’Rourke in a BMW M1 at Le Mans in 1981.
Brundle finished a close runner-up to Senna in the 1983 British F3 Championship, and in ’87, after running Johnny Herbert to the British F3 title, Jordan decided to take Herbert to European F3000. Herbert was already a race winner when his season was curtailed by a massive accident precipitated by Gregor Foitek at Brands Hatch.
In 1989 Jordan ran Andrew Gilbert-Scott (later Takuma Sato’s manager) to second place in British F3000 and Jean Alesi to the European F3000 title. Formula 1 beckoned and Jordan assembled a shoestring operation in his Silverstone factory, where Gary Anderson, Andrew Green and Mark Smith designed a car, launched in early 1991 in black carbon fibre – Camel cigarettes had decided to go with Alesi to Tyrrell instead – and named the Jordan 911.
John Watson tests the Jordan 911 which was later renamed the Jordan 191
Photo by: Sutton Images
Jordan’s launch brought heat from Porsche, prompting the car to be rebadged the 191, and sneering from the fourth estate; veteran journalist Jabby Crombac famously wrote “Why do they bother?”
“Fuck ’em,” was Jordan’s response. “I’ll show ’em.”
A chance meeting in a pub with Cosworth’s Bernard Ferguson facilitated a deal for second-string Cosworth V8 engines, and an energetic travel schedule yielded sponsorship from 7-Up and Fujifilm. The 191, now in patriotic green, was well-balanced and competitive, but by late in the season the bills were mounting up.
When driver Bertrand Gachot was jailed for spraying a London cab driver with CS gas during a road rage incident at Hyde Park Corner, Jordan’s problems were partially solved by a cheque from Mercedes to put its protégé, Michael Schumacher, in the car at the Belgian Grand Prix. Schumacher made such an impact that he was relocated to the Benetton team, but Jordan survived the winter and hustled through the following seasons.
Results remained patchy until the end of the decade, when Jordan enjoyed two fertile seasons in 1998-1999, including a dramatic win for Damon Hill in the wet at Spa in 1998. The following season Jordan finished third in the constructors’ championship, but this was to be his team’s peak.
Heinz-Harald Frentzen, Jordan Mugen Honda 199, Mika Hakkinen, McLaren MP4-14
Photo by: Sutton Images
Jordan sold a 40% stake in his team to the private equity company Warburg Pincus, and the enjoyment of his new-found wealth sapped his focus. Insiders noted that where Eddie formerly had laser focus across every aspect of the business, after this point he began to drift into the background.
There were difficulties securing sponsors, the best technical personnel, and engines – and the lack of money and competitiveness was reflected in a rotating cast of drivers who were expected to bring a budget. By 2005 Jordan was struggling to keep the lights on and decided to sell his remaining stake.
The team passed through a number of hands and now competes as Aston Martin.
Jordan expanded his business interests into property development, horse racing and football, and continued his charity work as a patron of CLIC Sargeant (now renamed Young Lives vs Cancer), dovetailing this with F1 appearances on the BBC and Channel 4 when they had the broadcast rights.
He also bought another residence in South Africa, where he became a neighbour of F1 tech guru Adrian Newey, who also has a property there. In 2024 Jordan acted as Newey’s agent in negotiations for his high-profile move from Red Bull to Aston Martin.
Although not a frequent visitor to grands prix, Jordan remained well-connected, and his unique combination of wit and insight made him a go-to pundit on TV and radio. In recent years he established the Formula for Success podcast with ex-F1 driver David Coulthard.
Eddie Jordan
Photo by: Carl Bingham / Motorsport Images
After being diagnosed with prostate and bladder cancer last spring he underwent treatment including several rounds of chemotherapy, but revealed in December that the cancer had spread to his spine and pelvis.
“Go and get tested,” he said on his podcast, “because in life you’ve got chances.”
In recent months he acted to secure his legacy, leading a consortium to buy the professional arm of the London Irish rugby club out of administration with the aim of returning it to competition in 2026.
“EJ brought an abundance of charisma, energy and Irish charm everywhere he went,” a statement from the Jordan family reads. “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.”
In this article
Stuart Codling
Formula 1
Eddie Jordan
Jordan
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