Eddie Jordan, F1 team owner and pundit, dies aged 76

Eddie Jordan, a F1 team owner and later pundit for BBC and Channel 4 as well as the popular TV show Top Gear, has died aged 76. The Irishman passed away in Cape Town, after suffering from prostate cancer for the last 12 months. A statement sent from his family said that Jordan was working until his final day, "having communicated on St Patrick's Day, about his ambitions for London Irish Rugby Football Club, of which he had recently become Patron".

As a businessman with teams in lower categories, Eddie Jordan finally founded a F1 team, named Jordan Grand Prix, that operated between 1991 and 2005. The team never got too many successes, but was the place where many drivers made their breakthroughs, including eventual world champions Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill. Jordan's team won four races in total, with Ralf Schumacher in 1998 Belgian Grand Prix, two with Heinz-Harald Frentzen in 1999 (the closest the team was to win a title) and Giancarlo Fisichella in 2003 Brazilian Grand Prix.

The team was sold to Midland Group in 2005, renamed MF1 Racing, and after several sales, their ashes were the foundation of Racing Point F1 Team, which is now Aston Martin, which returned to Jordan's premises at Silverstone. In fact, Jordan later worked as Adrian Newey's manager, helping to connect the engineer with Aston Martin.

Lawrence Stroll, owner of Aston Martin, said that Jordan was a "true racer, a great leader, and one of the biggest characters in our sport", and will miss his friend for thirty years. All F1 teams have issued similar statements, which explain how loved and popular was Eddie Jordan, who aside from his love of motorsport was also a drummer with his own band.