What an honour, what a privilege, and what fun it was to be a friend of Eddie Jordan’s for 50 years.
How sad we are with the news of his death.
[ Eddie Jordan, former Formula One team owner, dies aged 76 ]
In 1977, I had been bitten by the motor racing bug and bought an elderly Crosslé 16F Formula Ford to race at Mondello Park.
I quickly discovered that motor racing was a money pit that even the monthly salary cheque as a well-paid engineer at Jacobs Engineering could not remotely fill.
So, by April the car was gone. In those early race meetings at Mondello Park I had met Eddie and when he heard I was selling up he asked would I help him run his Formula Atlantic March 74B. I said “sure” and joined James Woods, David Meeke and Liam Nevin in working on the car most evenings and almost every weekend that summer.
I learned a lot – certainly enough to change engines and run a Formula Ford, which was a low-tech racing car compared to the Atlantic. It was fun with Eddie – even working at 3am changing engines.
Eddie’s racing programme was very expensive, so he worked in Bank of Ireland on Camden Street, Dublin, and had a number of sidelines (or nixers as we called them) on the go – especially buying and selling cars. Occasionally I would help him with that aspect and, even then, I knew I was watching a master at work.
There were also the tussles to get sponsors before others pounced – and here I saw the sharpest networking and commercial skills in the paddock at work.
In between there were parties, concerts and post-race meetings/dinners in the Step Inn and elsewhere. Eddie was a fixer – he made the deal work for both sides.
He was fantastic company, generous to a fault, razor sharp in chasing what he wanted – and that included Terenure’s Marie McCarthy (no relation).
In 1978, I was on my way myself, fully armed with a new racing car, group of helpers and a bevy of sponsors and supporters.
January 1979 was a crucial decision time for Eddie. He had the opportunity to drive professionally in England, which meant leaving the Bank of Ireland after 10 years. It was big decision in an era when permanent and pensionable jobs were few and far between. We discussed it at length, but convinced ourselves that no matter what happened he would survive. He knew he would never last in the bank anyway.
He went to England and with Bernard Devaney drove Formula 3 Chevrons for Donegal man Derek McMahon on the grounds of Silverstone racetrack.
We stayed closely in touch. A string of top-class Irish mechanics went his way – Bosco Quinn, John Walton, Shay Campbell and others.
Eddie was master of the phone – with family, friends, colleagues, business partners. He made every conversation fun – probably a lost art form today.
[ Eddie Jordan: Business maverick, wannabe rock star, Formula One legend ]
And then the giant leap into Formula One loomed on the horizon. I worried a fair bit about him. In 1979 he got an opportunity to do Formula Two, but if he blew the engine he would have a £4,350 bill. He didn’t either blow the engine or worry. He was not a worrier. He felt no matter what corner he got himself into that he would get himself out of it. His endless energy, smarts and incessant joking and good humour would be enough. And it was.
By 1990 he had won the British Formula Three championship, and the European F3000 (Formula Two) championships, so for an ambitious young man the only place to go was F1.
He had done very well commercially, but everything was being gambled on F1. However, he knew the game intimately and, having been a successful driver himself, he could spot special talent a mile off.
F1 was a huge jump so he prepared the ground well. He got to know the movers and shakers in the F1 paddock and started lining up sponsors, engine suppliers and wealthy drivers – and their dads.
[ Eddie Jordan: A life in pictures ]
Eddie talked to everyone the same way – princes and paupers and all in between. His racing team were incredibly loyal to him – and he to them. Some, like Andy Stevenson, started at EJR in the 1980s and are still with Aston Martin F1 today after they grew out of Jordan Grand Prix.
I attended the team’s first Grand Prix, in Phoenix, Arizona, in March 1991. It was fraught, but Eddie was superb at coping with pressure. By May the Jordan Ford was mixing it with Alain Prost’s Ferrari and by June they were scoring world championship points. They were on their way.
For the 1990s I covered the team exploits for The Irish Times and later the Belfast Telegraph, so we were in touch a lot and it was great to see what a fantastic ambassador he was for Ireland. The dream became a reality with the race wins in 1998 and 1999. In Irish motorsport he was our greatest figure – but still the same person he was 50 years ago.
In later years he became a top-line sports broadcaster for ITV and BBC, and became famous for being famous. But he was still the same delightful person I knew from those late nights working on car engines.
I will miss him greatly.
