2 Soft Compounds
2 Soft Compounds is a weekly podcast focusing on Formula 1, hosted by radio broadcaster Rick Houghton and motorsport journalist and GrandPrix247 founder, Paul Velasco.
With a focus on unfiltered analysis, behind-the-scenes insights and expert commentary, the podcast offers fans an entertaining and informative take on the fastest sport in the world.
2 Soft Compounds
Eddie Jordan: The Maverick Who Rocked The Paddock
2 Soft Compounds - Eddie Jordan: The Maverick Who Rocked The Paddock
🍀 It's the end of era! On this special edition of 2 Soft Compounds, Rick Houghton and Paul Velasco pay tribute to the legendary Eddie Jordan, who passed away at age 76 - a true F1 maverick who left an unforgettable mark on the sport.
❤️ In a time when a time when hustlers, dreamers, and mavericks could still shake up the grid, Rick and Paul dive into the stories that made Eddie a fan favourite — discovering Schumacher, pulling off wild sponsorship deals and turning his underdog team into a motorsport family. Featuring tributes from some of motorsports biggest names, the guys also reflect on his life after F1, from his generosity with children’s charities to his work as a host for the BBC's F1 television coverage.
🔥 Memories, laughs and heartfelt moments — Two Soft Compounds celebrates one of F1’s true originals.
Podcast Rundown
1️⃣ Remembering Eddie Jordan
2️⃣ The Jordan Team Legacy
3️⃣ Rick's Personal Memories of EJ
4️⃣ Eddie's Marketing Genius
5️⃣ Industry Tributes
6️⃣ The Lasting Impact of a Legend
Production Credits:
Presented by: Rick Houghton & Paul Velasco
Studio Engineer & Editor: Roy D'Monte
Executive Producer: Ian Carless
Produced by: GrandPrix247 & W4 Podcast Studio
Hi, welcome to the Two Soft Compounds podcast. Before we begin, I've got a quick favor to ask. There's one simple way you can support our show, and that's by hitting that follow or subscribe button on the app you're listening to the show on right now. It really does make a huge difference in helping us get the show out there to as many people as possible. So please give us a hand and click that button right now. Thank you, I don't make mistakes. I make prophecies that immediately turn out to be wrong.
Speaker 4:Anything can happen in Formula One, and it usually does.
Speaker 1:Hey, welcome to a very special edition of Two Soft Compounds with me, rick and Paul Velasco, the founder and chief editor of GrandPrix247.com. Before the suits, before the billion-dollar brands, before the dominance of data-driven wind tunnel warriors, there was Jordan Yellow, loud, wild and led by one unique man A former racer, an Irishman, a hustler, a dreamer and one of the most beloved rebels in the Formula One paddock.
Speaker 2:And the ex-Formula One team boss, Eddie Jordan, has died aged 76 after a 12-month battle with cancer. He passed away peacefully with family by his side in Cape Town in the early hours of the morning.
Speaker 5:I'm still here. I'm having the time of my entire life. This has been a magic. You know, I'm just we've said it so many times in the programme about being so lucky and I am the epitome of that. That's exactly where I feel I am. From the mid-80s till the early 2000s, I spent 18 hours a day, 7 days a week, trying to keep Jordan afloat, trying to make success, trying to build up drivers, trying to make some money, trying to see the future. The world is just an extension of Eddie's personality. If I ever feel that I've let people down, it's probably my family, because my kids often said I remember what Zoe said to me one day Dad, you've just turned up. That's funny, but it hurts.
Speaker 4:So I recently went to a Formula One race and I just sent him a message afterwards and I said the sound, the smell and the heat today reminded me of our days together travelling the world. I love you, brother. This is the greatest four years of my career. I'm going to let it go to Eddie to do his signature sign off. Ahhhh, you're listening to Two Soft Compounds and this is Eddie Jordan, the maverick who rocked the paddock.
Speaker 1:You're listening to Two Soft Compounds, and this is Eddie Jordan, the maverick who rocked the paddock, and Paul, your earliest memories of Eddie Jordan. I remember the cars being green.
Speaker 6:Yeah, the 7-Up car it was a Gary Anderson-designed car, if I remember correctly.
Speaker 1:That was right, the 191,. I think it was.
Speaker 6:Yeah, beautiful little car driven by André de Cesaris and Bertrand Gachot. His little team became a much bigger team. Actually I was surprised when he sold, to be honest, discovered Michael Schumacher gave him his break in Formula One. So that name will always be that legend. That story will always be linked to Eddie, because it was a very famous week, and the week that preceded because, by the next race, flavio had fired the Brazilian driver, roberto Moreno, who was just underperforming with Nelson Piquet in the other car, and stuck Michael in the Benetton. And there you go, and the rest is history.
Speaker 1:I do love the fact, because Eddie Jordan and we'll get on to the character that he was but do love the fact that when michael schumacher threw a party to celebrate 20 years in formula one, eddie jordan turned up on stage with the clutch that had failed in that race in belgium. That put him out in lap one and he just came on stage holding the clutch in his hand and saying this is your destiny.
Speaker 1:My friend, I thought that was great yeah, brilliant, brilliant, my memories of my memories of Eddie Jordan start in Belgium actually, and I was working this out because I was trying to figure out which year it was that I started working alongside Jordan Formula One, and it was 2001,. And it was the Belgian Grand Prix. And I was working for Mastercard. They were the main sponsors of the Jordan team at the time, so I kind of acted as a liaison between the team, mastercard and MasterCard's VIP guests.
Speaker 1:So before each session I would interview one of the drivers, or maybe Eddie, in the paddock club to give the guests a sense of what was happening that weekend. I'd do the pit lane walk with them and I'd stick around whilst they had their six-course meal, answering any questions they may have had. So my first memory of working alongside Jordan was do you remember the hour-long qualifying sessions? They were always live on TV but no driver went on track until about 50 minutes into the session. And then Eddie Jordan came up with this amazing thing where he said I know what I'm going to do, because the TV cameras were focused on the Ferraris and the Williams and all of the cars at the top.
Speaker 6:Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 1:Jordan got no coverage. So he got this model called Katie Price, renamed her Jordan and basically had her draped over the Jordan car in the pit lane for the full qualifying session, dressed in a very skimpy outfit, because he knew if he did that, the TV cameras would give him some attention and he could go back to his sponsors and say, look, look, how much air time you got during qualifying compared to the other teams. And it worked a treat. And that was totally eddie jordan. That was the sort of hustler that he was but that's formula one in those days, mate.
Speaker 6:So politically incorrect girls with little hot pants and stuff walking around, skimpy little outfits, it was cool for the dudes. It's like a super eye candy. Now you know, everyone's like wearing like I don't know sponsor shirts and shit, but in those days it was totally different. I mean, like you said, there was models draped over cars, photos of center with like five jps girls and hunt with a. Yeah, I mean come on formula one. You know it was like super non-woke. If you think about it today, they were like, hey, man, you can't do that stuff anymore. You know they got away with pit girls and all that. Anyway, it's a different time and I think that's what made him so rock and roll is that he actually kept on reinventing the wheel because he needed that publicity, you know.
Speaker 1:Yeah, he was definitely a marketeer. He was a salesman as well. When I worked alongside them, they had an Irish guy I can't, for the love of God, remember his name. He was an Irish guy who was their commercial director Eddie Irvine.
Speaker 1:No, not Eddie Irvine. He was a commercial director for Jordan and he was a lovely man and he was part of that whole Eddie Jordan kind of rock and roll thing. Really is that they were. They were very similar as characters and they would do almost anything to sell sponsorship space on the car and they would come up with gimmicks and ideas that when you, when you heard about and you thought that's crazy, but then somehow they'd make them work. I've got a clip here of Eddie Jordan when he celebrated his 75th birthday last year. He's's talking to his friend, david Coulthard.
Speaker 5:Well, you know it's a big day. Marie only last week was 65. I'm 75 and 45 years, married Jesus. There's a lot of people who are slightly dumbfounded by all of those statistics, but anyway, it's happened, it's reality. I'd love to buy another 25 years if I could, because you know, life has moved by so quickly and I think, to be fair to motor racing has helped in that regard. Music and the other things that I do, and sailing and golfing and class. You know, I just was a complete fanatic about sport. So people who are of that age 75, just rejoice because, honestly, it gets better and better.
Speaker 1:There you go, and that's quite poignant because that was only recorded last year when he celebrated his 75th birthday and then, of course, had this horrible and tragic battle with cancer towards the end of his life. But he was remembered by so many people so fondly, I think, over the last seven days, especially at the Chinese Grand Prix, when they, uh, they did a very special tribute to him on the grid and they did it, um, after the race as well. He was clearly a man that was very loved. We got some tributes, uh, from around the formula one family uh, which we're going to play in as we get through this special podcast.
Speaker 3:Here's what jackie stewart had to say eddie was the type of person who would never die. He was a real character in Formula One, in my opinion. He of course had a lot to do with bringing new drivers in, particularly that of Schumacher. I was inspired when he brought Schumacher in for the first time, in fact spent some hours with him on an aeroplane thereafter. Eddie was a great people maker and quite a dandy in so many different ways. But it really goes to say that we all have to go sooner or later, and I'm sad that he's going. I definitely send to the family our deepest sympathies, that's to say my son, paul, who was racing with me at that time in the Stewart Grand Prix with Eddie as a competitor. So we'll have many happy memories about him I think that's the nicest way to look at it and very sad that he's passed away.
Speaker 1:I'm going back to some of my own memories now, back to 2001, back to the Belgian Grand Prix in Spa. I sort of put all this together over the last couple of days, just remembering the dates and remembering what was going on. But qualifying happened on the Saturday. Jordan didn't do particularly well in qualifying and Saturday night, if you remember, it was a World Cup qualifying game between England and Germany. Famously, michael Owen scored a hat-trick and England beat Germany 5-1. So the following day, when they were doing the warm-up, jenson Button's team had a board out so that every time Schumacher went down the main straight it said Jenson 5, schumacher 1. And the whole atmosphere of that weekend was just like a carnival almost. And Jordan were wrapped up in that.
Speaker 1:They had their qualifying match in the World Cup for the Ireland team just after the race finished on Sunday, and again they hadn't done that well in the race. But it was all about. Forget about post-raced interviews. Eddie wanted to grab a beer, sit in the motorhome and watch the Ireland team take their challenge to the World Cup, and he got the whole of the team to do the same. He was like right, don't, but don't bother about breaking the garages down just yet we're watching the match first. So even the mechanics were in the motorhome with a beer. That was the sort of atmosphere he he conjured up.
Speaker 6:Brilliant that's a proper eddie jordan story. I mean, I think you could just write a book, a big, big book, like several volumes, on just eddie jordanisms. You know, in fact, the one that that struck me that I didn't realize it was him that actually started it, but he was wrong about it, but he he actually in a way. Anyway, this memorable quote how do you make a small fortune in Formula One? Eddie was asked. He said, simple, start out with a large one. But you know what? He left Formula One and he made a large one. You know he made a. I mean, I don't know, are any of you guys retiring with 600 million in your bank or going to heaven 600?
Speaker 1:and the other thing as well is that everyone, uh, everyone, should remember he did a lot for charity, especially kids charities. Um, he put a lot of money into charitable causes, which I think is to be uh, is to be upheld as uh, as again part of his character. Here's martin brundle talking about Eddie Jordan.
Speaker 2:Eddie Jordan was one of the biggest characters of Formula One, absolutely irrepressible, and he came through the junior ranks. He was a driver himself and then he had some teams in Formula Three and eventually ended up in Formula One, won races. Everybody loved him. He was such a strong character to have around, great sense of humour, and then when he had something really secret to tell you, he'd whisper to you. We all remember him for that, but the sport will be poorer without him because of what he achieved and what he stood for and just what a racer he was.
Speaker 1:Some more tributes coming up from the Formula One community in just a bit. Finally, my final sort of Eddie Jordan story, if you don't mind, paul. This was after I'd done a session I think it was before qualifying at one of the races and I'd interviewed John Alaci, who was driving for Jordan at the time, in the Hospital paddock club, in front of all MasterCard's VIP guests, and that went quite well. And then afterwards most of the guests went out onto the grandstands to watch qualifying and I didn't, because that was my chance to eat, so I just stayed where I was, grabbed some food and was eaten away in the hospitality and this guy came over and he sat right next to me and he said he was American. He said I hope you don't mind me joining you, so I just it's clear that you know what you're talking about when it comes to Formula One. I went oh, thanks. He said I just want to ask a few questions, if that's okay. And I went yeah, he said how do you think Jordan's a great driver? Um, you know, it looks as though they're. They're going to get some decent upgrades. Um, and it was talking about how I thought jordan would do out of the corner of my eye, and this is remembering the qualifying's going on at this stage. The corner of my eye, I see the commercial director for jordan, who's just entered the marquee, and he is staring intensely at me and I'm thinking okay, what's this? Then the conversation carried on for ages.
Speaker 1:At the end of qualifying, I see Eddie Jordan come into the room, stood next to the commercial director, both staring at me. So the conversation finishes and the guy says to me thanks very much, much. He said, jordan, tell me nothing. They just tell me what I really want to hear. I thought I'd get it from the horse match, someone who's a fan, someone who knows about what they think. He said would you do me a favor? He said would you put an email together for me and put the thoughts you just mentioned down on the email and send it to me? I said, yeah, sure, still not really sure who he was. Then he put his business card down. He was the chief executive of MasterCard.
Speaker 1:So as soon as the conversation had finished, commercial director and Eddie come running over. What did he say? What did he say? What did he say? We've been trying to get him to renew the sponsorship for six months and he won't say anything to us and he's knocking back meetings, so meetings. So I said, well, he's asked me to send me an email. He said so. Eddie said can you send the email to me first I'll change it, send it back to you and then you send it to the mastercard guy. I said yeah, no problem. A few weeks after, I'm talking to a mate of mine who's a football agent and he said, uh, you absolute idiot. I said what he said did you send the email to mastercard? I said yeah. He said you may have just broken a $30 million sponsorship deal and you haven't asked for anything in return.
Speaker 1:So anyway, luckily they didn't renew the sponsorship, but that was the sort of that was the hustle that was always going on in that Jordan team, you know.
Speaker 6:I think that's sort of the hallmark of that team. I mean, they got Benson and Hedges. That must have come with some good money. You said it was your final word, but let's just go out, because look, the stats show Eddie Jordan and his eponymous Jordan racing team no-transcript in 1991. Their last Grand Prix as Jordan was at the Chinese Grand Prix in 2005. They were involved in 250 Grand Prixs. They won four of them, 19 podiums, and their best finish was third in the 1999 Formula One World Championship. So there you go. Eddie's name will forever be on the internet, mate.
Speaker 1:Forever, forever. Yep, certainly will, and I think you know, like we've heard from the tributes that have been coming in, there's so many everyone, I think, who worked in Formula 1, certainly who worked in the Jordan team. I think everyone will have some really entertaining and lasting stories that they will take with them for the rest of their lives. Here's Damon Hill talking about Eddie There'll never be anyone like Eddie Jordan.
Speaker 7:We'll hear a lot more about what he was like and my just thoughts go to the Jordan family, who are lovely people, and Eddie was a huge influence on me and many, many people in motorsport and around the world. There'll never be anyone like him. He was gregarious, as you know. He was irreverent. He was crazygarious. As you know, he was irreverent, he was crazy. I lived in Ireland when I raced with Eddie and I was privileged to have won a Grand Prix with Eddie and seen the effect. He influenced everyone and there isn't a single person in that era and since really has not been affected positively in some way by Eddie. He gave a huge amount to charity. He never stopped, he never wasted a single second of his life and he energised everyone he was near, so it's a huge loss.
Speaker 1:So that's Damon Hill talking about Eddie. Of course, damon had the first win for Jordan. I'm going to play you two clips now, paul, from a guy called Jake Humphrey. Now, for those that don't know, jake Humphrey was the presenter who hosted BBC's Formula One coverage. Around the time that Eddie was starting to come out of the sport and become a TV pundit himself, jake Humphrey had been plucked from children's television and everyone thought, including me at the time, wow, what a gamble this is having this kid host Formula One. In my eyes, he turned out to be the best ever presenter Formula One television has ever seen. Here he is talking about getting the job.
Speaker 4:And he basically said to me, nile, he said if Eddie likes you then you'll be fine, if Eddie doesn't, then we might have to rethink who the presenter is going to be. And I walked in and I'll never forget it. I walked in and I'd never met Eddie before and he, literally the minute I walked in, he went no, you have to forgive the Eddie Jordan impressions. No, too tall, too good looking, too young. Thanks very much. And shut the door of his office and I didn't know him. So I was like is that for real? Is that it Is that the end of the meeting For real? Is that it Is that the end of the meeting? Of course he was joking. We went in, we had coffee together, we chatted about his life in Formula One, my life on Children's BBC and from there on sort of grew a real blossoming relationship. And that was the first time that I met him and immediately his spirit and his verve and his lust for life and his energy was absolutely clear.
Speaker 1:Yeah, he was well known in the BBC Formula One broadcast wearing outrageous shirts, making him a fan favourite all over and, of course, being controversial, questioning team principles and questioning strategies when things didn't go the way that he thought they should have done. Now this is Jake Humphrey in another clip, just after it was announced that Eddie Jordan had passed away, and you can tell he's so emotional here. You can tell just what the man meant to him. Here he is, you know.
Speaker 4:I remember when I left Formula One a lot of people were questioning why on earth would you leave the BBC to go and join BT Sport? And I'll never forget he pulled me to one side and he just said I know why you're doing this, this. And I said really, he goes, yes, because you want to be with your kids, because I was my wife was pregnant at the time and I said you're absolutely right. He was the only person in Formula One that knew that I was walking away to be with my family. So I recently went to a Formula One race and I just sent him a message afterwards and I said the sound, the smell and the heat today I was in Austin reminded me about days together traveling the world.
Speaker 4:I love you, brother. Those were the greatest four years of my career and the impact that you had on me was massive. My ambition and drive came from seeing what you did and how you did it. But, more importantly, you were the person who made me truly realise that it's family first every time. The F1 is so full of lost souls, but the way that Marie and the kids were always with you was as special as it is rare I think that's amazing when he says, uh, it's very emotional to listen to that.
Speaker 1:But when he says, when he says, f1 is full of lost souls and you were the life and soul, I just thought that was amazing yeah, I know, beautiful, I mean, you know that's the greatest accolade a guy can give.
Speaker 6:I'm sure there's a lot of people that feel like like, well, I must say I didn't have that closer contact that even you had, because 1991, when they came on the scene, was my last year as a Formula One photographer, because I've been focused on photojournalism in South Africa, which was kind of burning with apartheid and all that, but I never lost touch.
Speaker 6:But you know, in those days this is another thing that people tend to forget it wasn't 10 teams, mate, there were like 20 teams or 18, there was like so many teams in 91, uh, that as a photographer you would concentrate on Ferrari, the Williams, you know the top teams of the time McLaren, you could never do the whole grid, forget about it. And you know he has a new team, jordan. You go take a few snaps with him revealing the car and that's it, boom, you'd leave because it was a, yeah, it was a startup, uh. So I must honest, I didn't really get to do the meat of him, obviously beyond then he became a legend and I think, yeah, one of those, yeah, characters that are larger than life lived a fantastic life and affected a lot of people in a very positive way.
Speaker 1:Well, eddie Jordan didn't win world championships, he didn't run the biggest budget in Formula 1. But he built a legacy on personality, perseverance and the belief that the paddock should be a place for dreamers. He gave us moments we'll never forget and reminded us that even in a billion dollar sport there's still room for rock stars. He was best mates with Bono from U2, who paid him this tribute.
Speaker 8:Eddie Jordan EJ faster than life, will never die around anyone who loves racing.
Speaker 5:I had the dream and I had the belief that I could make it in Formula One.
Speaker 8:The gift from the gods, with the gift of the gab, a heart as big as his mouth, and that mouth was large.
Speaker 5:They're afraid of me. They're afraid of me. I got him. I got him.
Speaker 8:The governor, the gaffer living at large, in charge.
Speaker 5:What's changed? Why do you need all these people? You are all to purpose. You are not needed.
Speaker 8:Oh boy, a Dublin boy with a lot to say, so, bubbling in Dublin, he moved to Bray.
Speaker 5:We had 11 people, we had no sponsor and we had no driver. We looked a disaster.
Speaker 8:Who could control or contain him, restrain him? A boy racer dream?
Speaker 5:chaser, I think always at the beginning you set a target that you feel is unattainable, and when it is attained there is a sense of satisfaction.
Speaker 8:Formula Fun to Formula One.
Speaker 5:Just behind this little veil of fun and friendship is a very steely, committed, passionate group of people.
Speaker 8:A friend to all and an enemy to none.
Speaker 5:We are committed to respecting Internet. He's my new best buddy.
Speaker 8:They say the pinnacle for Eddie is in 98.
Speaker 5:And David Hill wins in Belgium Fantastic.
Speaker 8:Jordan won and two who knew? Ej knew.
Speaker 5:Eddie Jordan at last, after all his efforts.
Speaker 8:He discovered Michael Schumacher, or maybe Michael Schumacher discovered EJ. Eddie can have his own point of view. Bringing the best out of everyone is everyone's job. Eddie's just better at it than most of us.
Speaker 5:Just look who I found. I don't snore.
Speaker 8:Eddie was the epitome of the epigram that worried money never wins.
Speaker 5:I wouldn't bet on that worried, money never wins. I wouldn't bet on. That Is joy infectious.
Speaker 8:Nice job, captain Farrell, outrageous.
Speaker 5:I just sacked one of them.
Speaker 8:Vontageous. He's always causing us mischief, so it's good to return the favor now and again. Yeah, a little dangerous, all right. What's wrong with that? Never reckless, never, couldn't care less, never. Feckless and never unkind.
Speaker 2:That's the closest someone ever got to me in the press conference, Eddie.
Speaker 8:Eddie Jordan cared deeply for everyone around him, which is why he is loved by people who never got near him. Fearless, funny and generous it's your wallet I'm after. But God is fair. So Eddie wasn't allowed to be the greatest drummer in the world, but no drummer in the world has ever had more fun. Ej, serious fun. What the Living for? Love, laughter, noise, speed, loyalty. The man was Irish royalty.
Speaker 3:I have a lot to put up with about you and the golf club.
Speaker 8:Eddie was a joy. Eddie brought joy. Wow, I will. We will miss you. No one could keep up with you this life or the next. May you rest in peace, but more likely at pace.
Speaker 5:I want to just shut up now because I think I've spoken for far too long, but I can't thank you all enough. Just keep chasing that dream. Thank you so much.
Speaker 1:Thanks for listening to this special episode of Two Soft Compounds Eddie Jordan, the maverick who rocked the paddock. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate us and share it with a fellow fan. Until next time from me and Paul, take care.