Stop me if you've heard this one before, but I'm an opinionated student who needs money. I've been a...
Stop me if you've heard this one before, but I'm an opinionated student who needs money. I've been a bit annoyed about two things recently:
1) People taking my opinions way too seriously and leaving long-winded irate comments in response.
2) People...
Member since:11.11.2000
Reviews:110
Members who trust:9
Jordan have had an excellent 2000 season, despite their lack of frequent points finishes compared to last year. Their true success lies not in how they have performed this year, but in how they have prepared themselves for 2001.
Eddie Jordan has succeeded where many others (Sauber, Prost, Minardi) have failed in securing a top-line engine deal for next year when they will run Honda engines. Honda originally passed over Jordan in favour of British American Racing (BAR) last year, which many pit lane critics deemed unfair as Jordan have performed brilliantly with the second hand Mugen-Honda engines since 1998. BAR, however, were consistently unimpressive since their debut in 1999 given the huge amounts of sponsorship money and resources they have.
The Honda deal was Eddie Jordan’s first major success of 2000, and has allowed him to further strengthen his team. The experienced and occasionally very quick Heinz-Harald Frentzen resigned for 2001 on the strength of the Honda deal, and the highly promising Jarno Trulli will also remain for next year.
A quality engine and a strong driver pairing are two of the three elements vital to Formula One success, and now Eddie Jordan has captured the third by signing the highly rated designer Eghbal Hamedy. Hamedy’s work on this year’s Arrows has been stunning, elevating the car from the back of the grid to an average qualifying position of row 6 (11th and 12th). He has been called the next Adrian Newey, the hugely successful McLaren designer who helped create arguably one of the best F1 cars ever – the 1992 active suspension Williams-Renault.
While the Jordan cars on the track this year have suffered from using second-rate engines, the team boss has worked tirelessly to prepare a strong team for 2001 and I would be surprised if they failed to reclaim their position as the third best team after McLaren and Ferrari. Though reliability had let them down frequently in 2000, their promise can be seen in that they were the only team bar McLaren and Ferrari to qualify on the front row of the grid - Trulli qualified 2nd in Monaco and Belgium.
The promising outlook Jordan now have is a timely one too, as 2001 marks the end of their first decade in Formula One. Since their debut in 1991 they have consistently been an immensely likeable team of great character. Though they initially struggled with a lack of cash and weak engines, they have always benefited from Eddie Jordan’s unsurpassed ability to identify and nurture young talent. At least half the current F1 grid have worked for Jordan at some point, such as treble champion Michael Schumacher who drove his first race for them in 1991, Rubens Barrichello in 1992, Eddie Irvine in 1993 and Ralf Schumacher in 1997. Other fine drivers drove for Jordan in junior formulae, such as Pedro De La Rosa, Jean Alesi and Heinz-Harald Frentzen.
That Jordan stayed afloat during these first shaky years is a testimony to Edie Jordan’s skill and intelligence as a team boss. A huge number of new F1 teams were formed from 1988 to 1991 and disappeared very quickly. Jordan were one of few who are still with us, but where are Coloni, AGS, EuroBrun, Rial, Dallara, Life, Onyx and dozens more?
Jordan’s journey from the midfield to the front began in 1996 with a long-term sponsorship deal with Benson & Hedges. This cash injection, combined with the improving Peugeot power plant, brought them consistent success. The explosive partnership of Ralf Schumacher and Giancarlo Fisichella yielded some good results in 1997, before switch to Mugen-Honda power when Peugeot decided to team up with fellow Frenchmen at Prost. The deal only benefited Jordan, who took their first win with 1996 Champion Damon Hill in 1998. Two more followed with Frentzen in 1999, who remained in the hunt for the driver’s title until the third-to-last race (which he was leading until he retired with a rare electrical fault).
Though in 2000 they have not replicated the on-track success of 1999, they have laid the foundations for a strong 2001.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Mar 29th, 2001
very helpful by (100%):
