Diagnosed with an aggressive cancer of the right lung on my 58th birthday (14th July) So not really ...
Diagnosed with an aggressive cancer of the right lung on my 58th birthday (14th July) So not really in the humour for writing much at the moment, although I *WILL* be back before too long...Ken
Member since:06.12.2000
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~ ~ It’s almost upon us again! Soon the engines will roar and all the beautiful people will return from their winter “hibernation” in sunnier climes, as the big boys of the motor racing world gear up for this season’s Formula One opener, the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne this coming weekend. (3/3/02) The Irish, off course, will have an interest, as one of our favoured sons, Eddie Jordan, tries once again to lift his Jordan team from the also ran position it has occupied in the last couple of years into the big boy’s league of motor sport.
~ ~ There have been many “false dawns” at Jordan since they made their Formula One debut back in 1991. They won their very first Grand Prix in 1998, with former 1996 World Champion Damon Hill behind the wheel, and in a car powered by a Mugen-Honda engine. Two more wins were to follow in the 1999 season with the skilled Heinz Harald Frentzen driving, and they were actually in contention for the driver’s title in the same year right up until nearly the end of the season, when mechanical and electrical failure took its toll on the car in a couple of races, and they dropped down the rankings. Eddie Jordan is the leader and lynch pin of the team, with his charismatic personality and entrepreneurial skills, that led to a lucrative long term sponsorship deal with cigarette manufacturer’s Benson and Hedges in 1996. He has always had an eye for good drivers and for rising young talent. Many of today’s established stars of Formula One cut their teeth in a Jordan car, including the current World Champion, Michael Schumacher, who raced with them in their opening season in 1991. His brother Ralf followed suit, and at other times they have employed the likes of Brazilian Rubens Barrichello, Britain’s very own ex-World Champion Damon Hill, as well as the irrepressible Irishman, Eddie Irvine.
~ ~ But early reports for this season do not seem to auger too well for Jordan. They have lost their sponsorship deal with Benson and Hedges, who have no doubt seen the writing on the wall in regard to the impending ban on cigarette advertising in the sport, and have decided to cut their losses early. Eddie Jordan has managed to pull a rabbit from the hat yet again though, and has brokered a new deal with the German company DHL, who are partly owned by the massive Deutsche Post. This will see Jordan turning out in new “colours” this season, and also with a brand new engine, the EJ12, developed during the winter by the engineers at Honda. Honda reckoned they had developed the old engine to the absolute limit of its capabilities, and had no choice but to pursue a new line if they wished to remain competitive in the cutthroat world that is Formula One racing today. But the combination of a both a new sponsor and a new engine, which has not yet been tried out in the heat of a competitive race, probably mean that Jordan will again struggle this season to remain competitive, and to mount any kind of a real challenge to the likes of the awesome Ferrari team, and its two main rivals, McLaren and Williams.
~ ~ In pre-season testing the new car and engine have been well off the pace, and has even been lagging behind such lowly outfits as Sauber (with an old Ferrari engine) and Arrows. There are also the “wheel men” themselves to be considered. This year the two drivers for Jordan will be the Italian Giancarlo Fisichella, (who, it has to be said, enjoyed his best season ever with Jordan in 1997) and the as yet unblooded in Formula One Japanese driver, Takuma Sato. My own feeling is that while Fisichella may be a competent enough driver, he is simply not in the same class as drivers like Schumacher, Coulthard, and the new rising star of Formula One, Juan Pablo Montoya. And Sato is as yet an almost unknown quantity, who even if he proves himself to be yet another Eddie Jordan “discovery”, will nevertheless take time to find his feet in the white heat of the motor racing arena.
~ ~ So despite the recent launch of the new Jordan car in a huge airport hangar at Brussels airport in a blaze of media attention, and despite the unflagging optimism and enthusiasm of Eddie Jordan himself, I would be most surprised to see Jordan making their long awaited breakthrough this coming season. Although as a long time supporter and admirer, I will continue to hope.
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I'm a big Jordan fan, purely for the way Eddie Jordan has kept the team going despite seeing bigger teams steal his driving talent and get the lion's share of the money. Sadly, what you said about 2002 also was true for 2003, and I can't see 2004 being a great deal kinder to them, either.
SueMagee 18.10.2003 20:29
It's sad that these days when you say "Jordan" someone else comes to mind.
Ciaobacca 08.03.2002 22:01
I guess it's a wrong pic on the top ;-) Oh dear, a williams-mecharome, I think. Greetz Ciaobacca
Feb 25th, 2002
very helpful by (100%):
