Flamboyant Eddie Jordan banged the F1 drum and gave Michael Schumacher his debut

Eddie Jordan, the flamboyant Formula One team owner who handed Michael Schumacher his debut in the sport, has died.

The Irishman revealed in December he was suffering with bladder and prostate cancer which had spread to his spine and pelvis.

And ahead of this weekend’s Chinese Grand Prix, it was announced by his family that Jordan, who also worked as television pundit for BBC and Channel 4, had died at the age of 76.

Jordan’s team – which he named after himself – entered 250 races between 1991 and 2005. They won four times, with Damon Hill leading home Jordan’s best-ever result – a one-two finish at the 1998 Belgian Grand Prix.

Jordan, known to the those in the sport as EJ, also handed Schumacher his first ever drive at the 1991 Belgian Grand Prix. Schumacher went on to win a record-breaking seven world championships – an accomplishment only matched by Lewis Hamilton in 2020.

Edmund Patrick Jordan was born in Dublin on March 30th 1948 to parents’ Eileen and Paddy.

After briefly considering becoming a priest and resisting family pressure to enter dentistry, Jordan took up a six-week accountancy course at the College of Commerce in Dublin where he began work for the Bank of Ireland.

But in 1971, his attention turned to motor racing, and Jordan won the Irish Kart Championship before moving up to Formula Ford and then Formula Three. But after he failed to realise his dream as a driver he set up Eddie Jordan Racing in 1979 – entering teams in British F3 – where he hired Martin Brundle and Johnny Herbert – and later Formula 3000.

F1 was on Jordan’s radar and in 1991 he founded Jordan Grand Prix with his team soon earning a reputation for punching above his weight. He then made the signing of his life to lure a relative unknown