Formula One team boss Eddie Jordan has been labelled a "wholly unsatisfactory witness" by a British High Court judge, who yesterday dismissed the Jordan team's £150 million (€213 million) claim against Vodafone. Justin Hynes reports
Mr Justice Langley said the case was "contrived and unsustainable" and criticised the Irishman for a number of "blatant inaccuracies" in his evidence.
Mr Jordan had claimed Vodafone wrongly pulled out of a three-year deal to sponsor the team, only to back Ferrari. Vodafone argued that it merely entered into negotiations with Mr Jordan, along with rival racing teams McLaren, Benetton, Ferrari and Toyota.
The telecommunications firm announced its deal with Ferrari prior to the Monaco Grand Prix in 2001.
The trial lasted six weeks, but on Friday, as the judge prepared to hand down his judgment, Mr Jordan applied to abandon the claim and offered to pay Vodafone's costs.
He also applied to have the judgment kept confidential, but the judge insisted on making his ruling public. He delayed this until yesterday to give Mr Jordan the chance to appeal, which he chose not to do.
Mr Justice Langley said Mr Jordan's claim was "plainly demonstrated to be without foundation and false". He rejected his claim that a phone call from Vodafone's global brand manager, Mr David Haines, in which Mr Jordan was allegedly told "You've got the deal," constituted a binding contract.
"I regret to say I found Mr Jordan to be a wholly unsatisfactory witness," Mr Justice Langley said. "His evidence was in many instances in stark conflict with, and indeed belied by, the documents, often documents of his own making.
"On occasions even Mr Jordan was unable to offer an explanation and was reduced to embarrassed silence by the exposure of blatant inaccuracies in what he was saying."
Mr Jordan is likely to face court costs, including Vodafone's, running into millions of pounds. The ruling could also have long-term implications for the team's ability to attract new sponsorship, as Mr Jordan is financially challenged by the global economic downturn and poor race results.
He said last night: "When Jordan began this action, we thought we had a deal and believed we had a good case. However, the judge sees it differently and preferred their evidence to ours.
"Litigation is risky and unpredictable and we have always been prepared for the possibility that this might not go our way."