Rock-and-roll Jordan had a flamboyance that captivated the Formula One paddock

Former team owner passed away yesterday after cancer battle

- KIERAN JACKSON

An old-school Irishman of quick wit and vibrancy, Eddie Jordan was a Formula One figure whose influence touched every corner of motorsport’s famed paddock throughout a career in the sport lasting more than 30 years.

From a promising race driver and savvy team owner to a captivating broadcaster and erudite manager, Jordan’s sad passing at the age of 76 yesterday, after a year-long battle with cancer, has sent shockwaves through a sport now in its pomp.

F1 has not always been in such good stead, though. It has needed influencers and trendsetters: those willing to put their neck (and more importantly, their finances) on the line for a shot at victory, and to give desperate drivers a chance in the cockpit. Jordan was certainly one of those.

Born in Dublin in 1948, Jordan was given the nickname “Flash” in his childhood, owing to his surname rhyming with the name and superhero Gordon. No flash-in-the-pan though, he dismissed the route of becoming a priest at the age of 15 and family pressure to enter dentistry. Instead, he took a six-week accountancy course and began working at the Bank of Ireland – a job which gave him his first insight into the art of negotiation.

Yet as the 1970s decade began, Jordan opted for pastures new. He began karting and won the 1971 Irish Kart Championships before moving through the ranks in Formula Ford and Formula Two. He was quick, but not quick enough, and soon founded his own junior team – in which he handed drives to the likes of Martin Brundle and Johnny Herbert.