Silverstone, 28^th November 1990. On a bleak winter’s morning a new Formula One car, clad solely in its carbon-fibre black bodywork and a sprinkling of yellow decals hit the track for the first time. At the wheel, John Watson, Ireland’s most successful Formula One driver ever. Standing by the armco on the South Circuit, Eddie Jordan, Ireland’s ex-racer turned team boss and Formula One new boy.

Alongside ‘EJ’s slight figure towered Gary Anderson, the Ulster-born Technical Director of the newly formed Jordan Grand Prix team. Around them worked a handful of mechanics and engineers, fresh from completing that year’s Formula 3000 Championship with drivers Eddie Irvine, Heinz-Harald Frentzen and Emanuele Naspetti. But F3000 was history, and this was the new beginning. All eyes were on ‘Wattie’ and the car he was driving. The Jordan Ford 911.

Little did anyone realise what an adventure Jordan – the team as well as the man – was setting out on. Within a few days the power of the F1 media machine was to affect even this tiny, fledgling outfit, Porsche AG requiring Eddie to alter the car’s designation from 911 (’91 for the year and ‘1’ for F1) to 191. Later still drivers Bertrand Gachot and Andrea De Cesaris would sign up, bringing much-needed sponsorship with them, while Eddie himself scored a coup for Irish fans by landing both 7Up and Fujifilm as main sponsors. With both companies sporting a green corporate identity, the first Jordans hit the track in what appeared to be national colours. ‘Lean, mean and green’ said the media.

That first season gave the team some idea of the rollercoaster world of Formula One. The 7Up Jordan Ford 191s scored their first championship points with a 4^th and 5^th in Canada, and might have won the Belgian Grand Prix were it not for engine failure which robbed De Cesaris of victory four laps from the end as he hauled in Senna’s race-leading McLaren. Gachot took the team’s first finish at Monaco, and fastest lap in Hundary, but by August was in gaol for assaulting a London taxi driver, his place in the team taken by an unknown German sports car driver, by the name of Michael Schumacher.

Fifth in the Constructors’ World Championship at its first attempt, Jordan shook the established teams with its mighty first-year performance, only to stare bankruptcy in the face going into the winter. It had been a terrific season, but the cash cost had been almost twice the team’s income.

1992
One telephone call changed Jordan’s fortunes. Having been on first name terms with the local bailiff during recent months, EJ took a call which ultimately landed a three-year title sponsorship from South African petrochemicals giant Sasol. That, allied to free engines from Yamaha, meant Jordan had the money to continue – as well as pay off the debts from ’91.

With former F3000 Champion Stefano Modena and Brazilian Mauricio Gugelmin as drivers, prospects seemed good. But reality struck. Eddie paid nothing for the Yamaha engines, and was soon reminded of the old saying, ‘you get what you pay for’. The engines were useless – down on power, lacking in reliability. They were even known to seize when the mechanics fired them up.

The season produced a single point, in the final race in Adelaide. It had been a tough year, the optimism of ’91 vanishing with each cruel Grand Prix weekend, but perhaps the end result was better than the alternative. Having so nearly followed other F1 hopefuls into receivership, Jordan had weathered its financial storms and was clawing it way back into contention.

1993
After the Yamaha debacle, Jordan sought help from Brian Hart whose neat V10 engine was everything its predecessor wasn’t. Young Brazilian star Rubens Barrichello was drafted into the driver line-up, beginning a four year partnership. The second car probably should have been sponsored by Avis since it was pedalled by a selection of drivers including Ivan Capelli, Thierry Boutsen, Marco Apicella and Emanuelle Naspetti before the team settled on its former F3000 star Eddie Irvine.

He joined the team for the last two races of the season, giving Jordan its best result of the year with a drive to a well-earned 5th place at Suzuka, Japan. His performance included daring to unlap World Champion Ayrton Senna, a move that resulted in a post-race confrontation during which the Brazilian punched the Jordan driver. Eddie Irvine had arrived, and the team found itself once again making headlines.

1994
Barrichello and Irvine. It was a partnership that would last two years, produce some flashes of brilliance and certainly position Jordan as a team on the rise. The first highlight came in Aida, Japan, when Barrichello claimed 3^rd place in the Pacific Grand Prix, giving Jordan its maiden podium and launching the team towards a season total of 28 points and 5^th place in the World Championship for Constructors.

The second notable event was also courtesy of Barrichello, his confidence in wet-dry conditions and impeccable timing netting him pole position for the Belgian Grand Prix in Spa-Francorchamps.

1995
After two years paying for Hart’s customer engines, Jordan landed a three-year works deal with French car giant Peugeot. With this support EJ had every cause to be optimistic, but as on so many occasions the promise of success remained precisely that. By now Formula One had adopted new engine regulations, running 3.0 litre engines instead of 3.5 litre, and was embracing a whole raft of safety rules introduced following the fatal accidents which befell Ayrton Senna and Roland Ratzenberger at the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix.

The Jordan-Peugeots went reasonably well, Irvine and Barrichello finishing 2^nd and 3^rd in the Canadian Grand Prix to give the team its first double-podium, and finishing the season 6^th in the Constructors Championship. Real success seemed to elude the team, however, the threat of breaking into the Big Four – McLaren, Ferrari, Williams and Benetton – diminished by a lack of financial clout and technical resource.

1996
This problem was addressed in spectacular fashion when, in January ’96, Eddie Jordan and Commercial Director Ian Phillips landed title sponsorship from giant tobacco brand Benson and Hedges. This began a year of heavy investment, seeing both the purchase of a wind tunnel and an extension to the factory. With Irvine off to pastures new at Ferrari, his place was taken by British star Martin Brundle, and once again there was cause for excitement as the season began.

The Jordan-Peugeot 196 did not perform well since the benefit of Benson and Hedges’ sponsorship took time to make its impact on track performance. Brundle suffered one of the biggest accidents of his career in the opening round of the Championship in Melbourne, Australia, and throughout the season the team never gathered sufficient momentum to challenge for podium places. 4^th and 5^th place finishes at the Italian Grand Prix, however, helped the team to finish 5^th in the series on 22 points.

1997
With Barrichello departing to join the Stewart team, and Brundle sliding into retirement to join Murray Walker in ITV’s commentary team, Jordan sported an all-new line-up. Ralf Schumacher, brother of double World Champion Michael, opted to start his career with the same team as his elder sibling, while promising Italian driver Giancarlo Fisichella was drafted in having shown well at Minardi the previous season.

Eddie Jordan’s new ‘youth policy’ had its ups and downs. The Jordan-Peugeot 197 was quick, nimble and benefitted from the new R&D facilities at the team’s Silverstone base. The season started promisingly, the Jordan pair racing for second position in the Argentine Grand Prix before doing the unthinkable and crashing into one another. Three podium finishes came their way before the end of the year, again netting 5^th place for Jordan in the World Championship and demonstrating the team’s ‘potential’. But potential was no longer enough, and the team knew it. With staff levels increasing to over 150 full-time personnel, the new wind-tunnel at Brackley opened in July and Peugeot engines being replaced by an exciting new partnership with Mugen-Honda for the following season, the quest for victory was intense.

1998
Eddie Jordan by now knew that success required many things – money, technology, good people, experience – but he also recognised that the team required a top line driver who knew how to win. In came Damon Hill, the 1996 World Champion looking for a new challenge after a year at Arrows. He joined Schumacher Jr, and what a season it turned out to be.

The Jordan Mugen-Honda 198 struggled to be competitive, in Monte Carlo, Hill was almost overtaken by the Minardi of Shinji Nakano and EJ decided enough was enough. Changes came thick and fast. Within two months Mike Gascoyne had been drafted in as Chief Designer, and a process of upheaval began which ultimately resulted in the resignation of Gary Anderson.

The team had failed to score a single point by mid-season, but when Ralf Schumacher survived the rain to finish 6^th in Silverstone the team’s fortunes began to change. Just a few weeks later Hill was to score a momentous victory for Jordan in the Belgian Grand Prix, surviving a wet-dry race and accidents all around him to score a 1-2 with Ralf just behind. In doing so Jordan became the first team in F1’s history to score a 1-2 on its maiden win, and these 16 points helped achieve a season total of 33 points and 4^th place in the Championship. Jordan had broken the monopoly of the top four teams which had stood since 1989.

1999
Hill was now joined by another Williams refugee, Heinz-Harald Frentzen. In what was to be Hill’s last season in Formula One the Englishman struggled to match his team mate’s pace, Frentzen driving superbly all year in his Jordan 199 to claim six podium finishes. These included stunning wins in France and Italy, the former after a well-judged one-stop strategy and the latter when a secure second place turned into victory after race leader Mika Hakkinen spun under pressure from Frentzen behind.

Pole position at the Nurburgring in late September confirmed Frentzen’s intention to challenge Michael Schumacher and Hakkinen for the title, and when he led the race up to the first pit stop Jordan had every right to smile. Sadly, electrical gremlins intervened and both Frentzen’s race and his title hopes evaporated. Third in the Drivers’ Championship, his 54 points accounted for the lions share of Jordan’s 61 point total, and the team moved ahead of Williams to claim 3^rd place in the Constructors battle.

2000
After the success of 1999 perhaps it was inevitable that Jordan’s push to achieve even better results would meet obstacles. The Jordan Mugen-Honda EJ10 – so named after the team’s founder and its 10^th season in Formula One – has been highly competitive but plagued by ill luck, early-season reliability problems and start-line accidents.

With rising Italian star Jarno Trulli joining Frentzen in the team line-up, the Jordan pair threatened once again to break the stranglehold currently enjoyed by McLaren and Ferrari, leading races in Melbourne and Silverstone and qualifying twice on the front row of the grid. Qualifying 2^nd and 4^th for the Monaco Grand Prix was a highlight of the early part of the year. Both drivers went on to hold second place in the race before Trulli’s car was struck down by reliability problems and Frentzen’s struck the armco, typifying Jordan’s lack of fortune in 2000.

2001
2001 was a historic year for Jordan as, for the first time in its eleven year history, it had the backing of a major manufacturer, in the shape of Honda and its V10 engine. Combine that with a car which certainly had a good turn of speed and an experienced and aggressive driver pairing of Heinz-Harald Frentzen and Jarno Trulli and the scene looked set for a return to the winning ways of 1999. The year got off to a good start with a string of points finishes: Frentzen was fifth and fourth in Australian and Malaysia and sixth in San Marino, while Trulli took fifth in San Marino, immediately followed by fourth in Spain. The Italian would finish in the points one more time, taking fifth place in France.

Overall, however, the season was disappointing. Mechanical woes, accidents and a disqualification for Trulli in Austria characterised much of the rest of the year. The situation was further complicated by Frentzen's high speed crash coming out of the Monaco tunnel. The German pulled out of the next race in Canada, complaining of dizzy spells, to be replaced by Ricardo Zonta, who finished 7th. Although Frentzen returned for the British GP, he was not on top of his form and was replaced again by Zonta in Germany, before Jean Alesi took over for the remaining five rounds, picking up the sixth placed point in both the Belgian and USA Grands Prix.

It fell to Trulli to show what might have been, with a couple of second row qualifying performances in Montreal and Silverstone. The Italian was also one of only two drivers from outside the top three teams to lead a grand prix in 2001. The team ended the year fifth in the Constructors' Championship, two points behind Sauber and two ahead of BAR.

2002
In 2002 Jordan started afresh with an all-new driver line-up in prodigal son Giancarlo Fisichella, who returned to the team after a couple of difficult seasons with Benetton and Japanese rising star Takuma Sato, British F3 Champion with an impressive, if late-starting, junior motor racing career under his belt.  For Sato the season was marked by an unlucky spate of accidents, most not his fault, while Fisichella battled with a car that did not compete as well as hoped with machines from the big teams with the benefit of steadily increasing support and investment from motor manufacturers.   The Jordan team was clever with its set-up and tactics, however, and a string of points finishes saw Fisi finish 5th three times mid season and Sato became a local hero when he finished fifth and scored a couple of points at his home race, the Japanese Grand Prix.   Despite consistently out-performing Honda’s other works team, BAR, Jordan agreed with Honda to end their relationship at the end of the year and Jordan put its hopes for the future in a unique deal with Ford of Europe and Cosworth Racing which would see the blue oval return to F1 in 2003.

2003
Power from Ford Cosworth and the perhaps unluckily named EJ13 was handled by Giancarlo Fisichella who stayed with the team for another season in 2003 and F1 newcomer Ralph Firman.  The young Briton came to Europe to start the F1 season at the last minute, after agreeing a deal with EJ which began with a conversation in a sunglasses shop on a Christmas holiday in the Caribbean.  Eddie knew Firman’s father, Ralph Firman Senior, from long ago in Formula Ford days and after winning the Japanese Formula Nippon Championship in 2002, Firman Junior had proved himself worthy of a chance in F1.  The FIA’s rule changes for 2003 were harsh on rookies though, particularly the one-lap qualifying format, and Firman had to fight a difficult battle in his debut season.  The team lacked the necessary budget to fulfil the development potential of the EJ13 so both Firman and Fisichella had a tough task in hand as leading teams continued to accelerate.  The season was not without success, however and at the eventful Brazilian Grand Prix, hit by torrential rain, Fisichella was leading the race with a heroic drive when a sequence of accidents by other cars stopped the race.  Although not immediately recognised as the winner, the young Italian was able to celebrate his first Grand Prix victory a few days later when the FIA admitted that they had made a timing error and mistakenly declared Kimi Raikkonen the winner.