Eddie Jordan: Ex-racing stable boss died of cancer

Michael Schumacher’s former sponsor Eddie Jordan is dead. As the family of the 76-year-old Formula 1 legend, according to the English media reports, said, Jordan died in the early morning with his loved ones in Cape Town after a cancer. The eccentric Irish only made it public in December that he suffered from prostate and bladder cancer and that the disease then spread further. Jordan fell asleep peacefully.

“With his inexhaustible energy, he always knew how to make people smile and always remained authentic and brilliant,” wrote Formula 1 on the platform X: “Eddie was one of the protagonists of a Formula 1 era and we will miss him very much.”

“It was pretty aggressive,” said Jordan in the podcast “Formula for Success” and talked about “a few very dark days”. Jordan, who is actually called Edmund with a real first name, is the former team leader and team owner of the racing team of the same name. He was Schumacher’s first boss in Formula 1 in the early 1990s. The later record world champion drove his first and only race for Jordan in Spa-Francorchamps in 1991.

“Who, damn again, is Schumacher?” Asked the charismatic Jordan when the manager Willi Weber then proposed the future superstar as a replacement driver for the Grand Prix in Belgium. On August 25, 1991, the later series winner actually completed his first World Cup run, which, because of a defect, ended unhappily after a defect.

This was only possible through an emergency lie. Weber said Jordan that the then 22-year-old knew the legendary course in the Ardennes. But that wasn’t right. “For this reason, I grabbed a bike to drive a few laps there and I immediately realized what fantastic route this is,” said Schumacher later.

Without Jordan, the history of motorsport would be poorer. As a driver, he was active in lower formula classes, celebrated some victories and was even allowed to test a Formula 1 car from McLaren. “I used to have the dream of becoming world champion, but then I got to the point at which I knew I couldn’t do it as a driver,” said Jordan once.

So he became the head of his own team. In one of his cars, the later PS icon Senna drove its first Formula 3 kilometers in 1982. After a few successes, Jordan finally ventured into Formula 1 in 1991. As a racing team operator, he developed creative methods for money procurement. Supposedly, the bailiffs kept giving him tips in good time before they came to the garnishment so that he can disappear.

Jordan experienced fat years in the racing series. He secured lucrative sponsorship deals, threw shrill parties. Before the team garage, slightly dressed women strut around. He was almost the inventor of the box. For Jordan, world champion Damon Hill, Rubens Barrichello, Eddie Irvine and several Germans drove. He hired Ralf Schumacher, Heinz-Harald Frentzen, Nick Heidfeld and Timo Glock.

Jordan had an eye for talents. In total, the team reaches four Grand Prix victories, two of them through Frentzen 1999. But with the burning of money of the factory racing stables, the father of four children could not keep up. In 2005 it was over, Jordan sold his shares. But even later he could not leave the racing series and became a TV expert at the BBC. There he caused a sensation with mocking comments, rather he withdrew in old age.