Eddie Jordan’s unique style helped him become a huge success in Formula 1, according to his contemporary, David Kennedy.

Former Shadow Grand Prix driver David Kennedy has paid tribute to Eddie Jordan, following the sad passing of the Irish F1 team boss.

David Kennedy: Eddie Jordan had a magic gift

Five years younger than Jordan, David Kennedy was another Irish talent who moved across into UK and European racing during the 1970s.

But while Jordan realised the driving side of things wasn’t quite for him and moved into the world of business and team ownership, Kennedy remained committed to the driving side of things and would go on to attempt to race during the 1980 season with the beleaguered Shadow team.

Greater success awaited Kennedy outside of F1, becoming a multiple Le Mans 24 Hours winner with Mazda, before moving into driver management, TV and print media punditry, as well as becoming a director of Ireland’s Mondello Park circuit.

Following the confirmed passing of Jordan after a battle with cancer, Kennedy spoke to PlanetF1.com to reflect on the remarkable personality that he was.

“He was a one-off. There’s no question about that,” Kennedy said, “It’s a very sad occasion.

“He was a great ambassador for the sport in general, and particularly for Irish motorsport.

“There were three of us who really started at the same time – myself, Derek Daly, and Eddie Jordan, and we were probably the first vanguard that left Ireland to seek our fame and fortune in the UK.

“Where Eddie went one way, into team Racing and team management, myself and Derek went into driving.

“But what Eddie did… he had a magic gift. He was able to turn a very ordinary situation into something spectacular and who would have imagined that, with the minuscule resources that he had, he would be able to take on the likes of McLaren and Ferrari?

“So that was one of his incredible talents, being able to get the best out of something. He never had any reserves or huge sponsorships.

“I suppose, in some ways, his talent was defined by finding young talent – being able to pick up drivers that had two ingredients – one, a little bit of finance and two, a lot of talent!

“When you think of Eddie Irvine’s story as well – to be able to have the sense and wit to be able to pick him up when he was racing in Japan and give him a run in Suzuka – because he knew he’d be super quick there, and just be able to get the best out of all of those opportunities was something that he was very talented with.”

David Kennedy: Eddie Jordan was ‘rock and roll’

Jordan’s eponymous F1 team was beloved for being a little bit daring and different compared to the more corporate entities he shared the grid with.

Known for posing with buxom models and a willingness to be as undiplomatic as he liked, Jordan Grand Prix was a beacon of fun on the grid – epitomised by the team’s choice of bright yellow colour scheme which came onto the cars in 1997, just as the cars improved to the point where podiums and wins were no longer a pipe dream.

Was Jordan’s success as a team solely down to him?

“Essentially, it was,” Kennedy said.

“He had a great team around him, and sometimes forgotten – they had Gary Anderson, who had fabulous all-round experience, from designing, building, and running cars, and then he had a really strong commercial arm with Mark Gallagher and Ian Phillips.

“So he had really good people around him, and they came from his time in the trenches when he was running in Formula 3 and that, so he had got a deep knowledge of the sport, and, being a driver himself, he could put a lot of those ingredients together.

“But it wasn’t just that he was great in being able to put those deals together. He had a different look, a different style.

“He was rock and roll when the others were kind of Ascot, and that brought a lot of a lot of attention to him. And it worked in his favour, because he was a rock and roll-like individual.”

Ireland’s national broadcaster, RTE, showed Formula 1 through the 1990s and on into 2004, Jordan’s final season, with Kennedy representing half of the presenting line-up alongside Peter Collins. With Jordan representing Ireland’s interests on the global stage, it’s no surprise that Kennedy and Collins focused a lot of their attention on the exploits of the team, with Jordan amusingly treated like a deity by RTE.

“He absolutely needed the oxygen of publicity,” Kennedy laughed when asked about the fawning, “and, to a good degree, we used to take a little bit of the piss out of him, as in keeping with most Irish, and that way, we got the best out of him – prodding him and cajoling him to come up with some mixed outrageous statement or comment.

“He used to push the envelope in all areas of life, and that was great to see – he had the guts and he had the gall to go for it.”

Asked for his presiding memory of Jordan, Kennedy didn’t have to think too long – the team’s breakthrough win at Spa 1998 saw Jordan’s unmitigated joy become unleashed.

“When they had the success at Spa in the wet race and he went down the pitlane dancing in a jig, it was the funniest thing,” he said.

“I think Murray Walker coined the phrase that, when he saw him dancing a jig going down the pit lane, he said,’ They’ll be playing their shillelaghs tonight in Ireland!’

“Now, as you and I know, a shillelagh is a stick, not a musical instrument, but it captured the unbridled enthusiasm that Eddie brought to things.”

David Kennedy drives Jordan 199 at Mondello Park

The closeness of the relationship between Jordan and Kennedy was evident during the 1999 season.

In between the Italian Grand Prix (which Heinz-Harald Frentzen won!) and the European Grand Prix at the Nurburgring, Jordan shipped a current car over to Mondello Park in Ireland.

The event was the 1999 Leinster Trophy Meeting, held on Mondello’s newly-built International Circuit, with Kennedy being entrusted to drive the 199 – which was to be the spare car for use by Frentzen and Damon Hill on the following weekend at the Nurburgring – for a demonstration run in front or the Irish public.

Record crowds turned out in force to watch Kennedy driving the 199 around the circuit, with Kennedy jokingly receiving a phone call from Jordan during a televised interview not to crash the car…

A video of the outing, as broadcast on RTE, is available to watch below:

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