Edwards pays tribute to 'influential' Eddie Jordan

Tim Edwards has hailed the professional and personal impact of Eddie Jordan, who passed away overnight.

Legendary Formula 1 team owner turned pundit Jordan died on Thursday following a battle with illness. He was 76.

The Irishman was known for his energetic and colourful approach to motorsport, and brought a rock and roll flair to F1 in the 1990s. Crucially, he also played a major role in the life and career of Edwards, who was by Jordan’s side through the 1990s and early 2000s.

“He was a hugely influential person in my life and career,” Edwards told Supercars.com.

“Obviously I worked for Eddie from the very beginning of Jordan F1 when we started in '91 with 7-Up, and then I left at the end of 2004, just before he sold the team. So, I worked every single season of what was Jordan Formula 1 team.

"But he also influenced my life, and [wife] Trudie's as well in so many ways professionally and personally. Trudie and I met each other there, and Eddie was really supportive of our relationship.

"In fact, when we got engaged, everyone thought it was for [Martin] Brundle's birthday, but it was actually any celebrate the fact that Trudie and I got engaged!

“He changed the way I look at motorsport immeasurably, because it was all about the show for him. We're here to entertain people; of course we're a sport, but we're in show business first and foremost. That's resonated with me for my career.”

Before Edwards embarked on what has become a two-decade journey in Supercars, the then young Aussie mechanic worked for Jordan after stints in sportscar racing and British Formula 3.

Edwards joined Jordan before the 1991 season in the sub-assembly department, with the team punching above its weight and handing an F1 debut to a young Michael Schumacher.

In 1994, Edwards was promoted to number one mechanic on Rubens Barrichello’s car, with the Brazilian taking Jordan's first podium at the Pacific Grand Prix.

By 1997, Edwards had become the chief mechanic at the team, and became Team Manager in 2001 before opting to move back to Australia, where he was head-hunted by David Richards to lead Ford Performance Racing.

While the wins, podiums and results were important, Edwards fondly remembers off-track relationship he built with Jordan, who always strayed from the conventional.

"For a minnow of a team, we punched well above our weight,” Edwards said of Jordan.

“I think for me, the memories are probably more about the environment that he created there. We were only ever a small team, but he had close ties with the music industry.

"We'd have rock bands rehearsing for before they went on tour in the back of our factory. There’d be the most random things; you’d be on the pit wall at Monaco, and next thing somebody's pushing in between us, and it’s bloody Bono!

"He was always heavily into the music himself, playing the drums… as I said, he was as much about the show as he was the sport. He always wanted to entertain people and he had some very fun ways of doing that.”

After F1, Edwards headed up FPR, which later renamed to Prodrive Racing Australia and Tickford Racing, for nearly 20 years. In that time, the team won over 80 races, two Bathurst 1000s, and the drivers’ championship in 2015.

Edwards said Jordan and Tony Cochrane were key to how he ran the Ford team, putting a premium on the entertainment spectacle, the personalities of the sport, and family.

“The way Eddie ran Jordan and approached the sport is not too dissimilar to the way I do,” said Edwards, who has been Supercars’ General Manager of Motorsport since late 2023.

"I've always spoken openly about that we're in the entertainment industry, we're in show business. We've got on the put on the best show we can.

“The sport sometimes in my eyes should take second place because if you don't entertain people, there's going to be no one there to watch your sport.

“But he was also family-oriented, and I felt that personally because obviously that's where I met Trudie. When our youngest, Harri, was born, he would come along to races as a two-year-old and be cleaning wheels at Indianapolis.

“When it comes to family and being around people, he definitely left his mark."

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