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From modest beginnings as a mid-field racing driver in the 1970s Eddie Jordan has, in the space of 20 years, become one of Formula One's biggest players. In what has become a big business sport, dominated by blue chip corporations and motor manufacturers, Eddie Jordan is the only entrepreneur to have successfully established an F1 team and to remain its majority shareholder. His charisma, energy and love of life have made his team, Jordan Grand Prix, one of Formula One's best loved teams.
Jordan began his career as a banker, making the switch to motor racing after experiencing the thrill of karting during a summer spent in Jersey. After progressing through various motor sport categories (see Career Highlights), winning several races and championships, he made his second career switch, this time from driver to team owner to form Eddie Jordan Racing in 1980. "I was married with one child and another on the way, and we had no money", explains Jordan. "It would have been selfish to continue."
As team owner, Jordan could sell, he could charm, and he knew how to make a race team work; all the necessary ingredients which were to give him almost immediate success. After ten years in the lower formulae, he entered the jewel in motor racing's crown - Formula One - with the creation of Jordan Grand Prix in 1991. The team finished its debut year in an impressive fifth place in the World Championship and brought to the sport an energy and vibrance previously unknown. Ten years on, Jordan Grand Prix boasts a string of victories and membership of the Formula One elite.
Jordan is a key player on the F1 field, negotiating contracts with major sponsors and breaking new ground by securing investment from global equity investor, Warburg, Pincus (Jordan Grand Prix was the first F1 team to gain investment from a financial institution). Undoubtedly the most charismatic F1 team owner, Jordan juggles joie de vivre with business dealings. Time away from the race track is spent at rock concerts, with friends in the music business, at soccer matches, golf tournaments or following his other racing sport - horse racing. Known for playing the drums at an impromptu rock concert or for phoning home as soon as a Grand Prix is finished to find out the football scores, Jordan's way of combining the high life with his love of homely pleasures makes him popular with media and F1 fans alike. "I have been accused of not being a serious operator," says Jordan, "and that used to hurt. The truth is, I am very serious about racing and competing, but I also believe life is for living to the full. I know what we have achieved and when I look at Jordan's history, from our victories in Formula Ford, F3 and F3000, to our impressive results in F1, I feel very proud.
I, and the team around me, believe in what we are doing. The question is, how far can we go? I believe, with Honda on board with us, we have the key elements in place to go all the way."
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