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The Hindu
3 days ago
- Automotive
- The Hindu
India's first F1 driver Narain Karthikeyan's life to be immortalised on screen
Twenty years ago, Narain Karthikeyan made history when he became the first Indian to race in Formula One at the 2005 Australian GP for Jordan Grand Prix team and broke the glass ceiling. Now, his inspiring and pioneering journey is set to be immortalised on the silver screen through a feature film. The Tamil-language biopic, to be directed by Mahesh Narayanan, is expected to hit the screens next year. 'People understand what F1 is now after Drive to Survive (documentary series on F1 championships) on Netflix, and now the F1 movie as well. So it's great to tell the story about India's first F1 driver. To break all the barriers to get there coming from India, there is a lot of drama in it,' said Narain in a chat with The Hindu. Wild journey 'You can see how tough it is, and F1 has always been like this. It is tough to be one of the elite 20 drivers. To then break other barriers, it was tremendously difficult. However, it was exciting as well. Formula One was my dream, and I think it was a fantastic and wild journey,' added the former F1 driver who started 46 races over three seasons (2005, 2011-12). Narain revealed that the project has been in the works for the last 18 months, and he will be involved in ensuring the on-track action is filmed realistically, which will include training the lead actor in the basics of racing. 'Through this story, we want to show Indians can compete in F1. If it could be done 20 years ago, it can be done now, and hopefully, this inspires the next generation of sportspersons and racers,' said Narain.
Daily Mail
07-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Eddie Jordan's send-off was a reminder that life in sport is so noble that it's harrowing when it's taken away, writes OLIVER HOLT
There was a memorial service to celebrate the life of Eddie Jordan at Westminster Central Hall on Monday. It was riotous, just as Eddie's life was. When his widow, Marie, spotted a friend beginning to cry when they met before the start, she scolded him gently. It was not to be that sort of occasion. Nor was it. Eddie's was a life well lived, a life that was cut short too soon, but a life that had given him love, children, grandchildren, happiness, success and a rock-star lifestyle in Formula One. A thousand people and more who loved him celebrated all that he was when they flocked to this cavernous venue. And as the service came to an end, Eddie's old Silverstone band, Eddie and the Robbers, were joined on stage by Rick Astley, Genesis guitarist Mike Rutherford, performers from Michael Flatley 's Lord of the Dance and a cohort of clapping, stamping F1 drivers, among their number Damon Hill, Mika Hakkinen, Martin Donnelly, David Coulthard, Johnny Herbert, Martin Brundle and Eddie Irvine. As they clapped and cheered, footage on the big screen behind them showed Jordan jumping off the pit wall at Spa in 1998 and skipping joyously down the pit lane in the aftermath of Damon Hill's victory in the Belgian Grand Prix, the first triumph for Jordan Grand Prix, the day the sport's great disruptor entered the pantheon of its greats. The day after Lando Norris won the British Grand Prix for McLaren and huge crowds swelled the stands at the old aerodrome at Silverstone, everything seeming to confirm that the sport is in rude health, it was worth remembering that today's heroes stand on the shoulders of giants like Jordan. After the service, we all went down to the Lecture Hall and Library and savoured the joy of seeing old friends and resolving to meet again soon and recapture those days of the 1980s and '90s that were at the heart of the youth of many of us, swapping stories about Eddie. Mine are only fond. Like many, I will always feel I owe him a debt because he, and friends of his like his commercial director, Ian Phillips, were welcoming and friendly to me when I came into the sport in the early 90s and introduced me to people who I might never have met otherwise. It was Eddie who egged me on, with indecent glee, to do a bungee jump at the Indianapolis 500 in 1993. He told the story ever after of how petrified and inelegant I looked — and was — as I plunged off the platform. It was the first and last time I ever did a bungee jump. It would not have happened without him. I remember how amused he was when Bob McKenzie, from the Daily Express, and I offered to take him and Phillips to dinner at a fancy restaurant called Le Roannay in Francorchamps during another Belgian Grand Prix weekend. As the night wore on and the wine flowed, he invited Flavio Briatore and Bernie Ecclestone over and the night got better and better, Flavio ordering the best grappas the restaurant served. They had to wake Bob and I at the end of the night when everyone else had gone — and then we saw the bill. I swapped a few messages with Eddie a couple of years before he died in March this year at the age of 76, and he was still laughing about that night. 'Reminds me of Spa when da journos PAID,' he wrote and I could hear him laughing. He was still full of mischief. Not too long ago, he gave me some information about a deal he thought was happening in F1 and was delighted when we ran it. 'U did brilliant to run da story,' he wrote. 'Bravo.' Bob was there on Monday, of course, and Ian, with a few genuine rock stars, a lot of grandchildren and many of the drivers who drove for him. There were a lot of songs and a lot of reminiscences of a man who, as Hill had said recently, 'had the energy of a nuclear power station'. There were plenty of readings, too. His daughter, Zoe, read beautifully. It was one of the only solemn parts of the afternoon. She recited A E Housman's poem To an Athlete Dying Young. 'Now you will not swell the rout,' she read, 'Of lads that wore their honours out, Runners whom renown outran, And the name died before the man.' I thought then of sport and loss and of Diogo Jota, a young man, humble and amiable, a loving husband, father, son, brother, champion, footballer and friend, taken so, so early, and of the terrible tragedy of a full life like Eddie's that was snatched away from Jota in an instant. There is something so noble and vital about a life in sport, a life that represents vigour, youth and triumph, that the loss of men and women in the arena, men and women who have lived our dreams and given us so much, seems even harder to bear. 'The time you won your town the race,' Housman's poem begins, 'We chaired you through the market-place, Man and boy stood cheering by, And home we brought you shoulder-high. 'Today, the road all runners come, Shoulder-high we bring you home, And set you at your threshold down, Townsman of a stiller town.' What a strange coincidence Even limited exposure to elements of the Premier League is enough to make a cynic out of a saint. If it were not enough that Arsenal should have continued to pick Thomas Partey for nearly three years knowing he faced allegations of rape, what a strange coincidence that the player should be charged three days after the expiry of his Arsenal contract. The brain glitches with tech errors One of the problems with technology in sport is that officials are so in thrall to it that it steals away their common sense and ability to exercise judgment. When Britain's Sonay Kartal hit a backhand that was clearly long at a crucial juncture of her match against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova on Sunday, chair umpire Nico Helwerth ordered the point to be replayed when it became apparent the line-calling system had been inadvertently switched off. Pavlyuchenkova was, rightly, livid and the authorities are fortunate that she went on to win the match. The issue is that the shot was several inches out. It wasn't even close to clipping the line. If Helwerth had called it as he saw it, there would not have been a problem. But when technology glitches, the human brain appears to glitch with it.
Irish Times
22-05-2025
- Automotive
- Irish Times
‘We all remember his amazing energy': Eddie Jordan remembered in two events ahead of Monaco Grand Prix
Eddie Jordan was mourned and celebrated in equal measure on the opening day of the Monaco Grand Prix meeting in Monte Carlo on Thursday. His unique position as driver, team owner, businessman and entertainer – but also resident of the principality – was remembered at a meeting of friends and family hosted by Prince Albert at the magnificent Monaco Yacht Club. Later, a lunch hosted by the British Racing Drivers' Club at the seaside Fairmont Hotel heard from Formula One CEO Stefano Domenicali and F1 team principals. Both events saw a mixture of tears and laughter worthy of a traditional Irish wake. Keith O'Loughlin, business partner of the late Eddie Jordan, speaks to actor Liam Cunningham at the Monaco Yacht Club event in Jordan's honour. Jordan's relationship with Monaco goes back to the early 1980s when he started entering his Eddie Jordan Racing (EJR) Formula Three cars in the Grand Prix support races. The opportunist in him recognised that all sorts of drivers could easily get sponsorship for the prestigious event and he could earn a tidy profit. He rented cars from British-based teams until EJR consisted of no less than five cars. READ MORE In the late 1980s, he used his position as a successful F3 entrant to get to know the movers and shakers in the F1 world. In 1991, he arrived with his own F1 team called Jordan Grand Prix. The Jordan-Ford 191 was driven by the closely matched pairing of Andrea de Cesaris and Bertrand Gachot. That year, because the team had to pre-qualify for their one and only time, they were banished to the second-tier paddock area in the repurposed multistorey car park adjacent to the main paddock. Coincidentally, this year, the shamrock-bearing Formula Two Series leader Alex Dunne and all the other F2 teams will use this exact location. Jordan lived in Monaco from 1996. Reflecting on the Irishman's life, Prince Albert said: 'Eddie contributed greatly to the Monaco Grand Prix over many years but was also an important link in the relationship between Ireland and Monaco. We all remember his amazing energy and positivity and ability to get those around him to give their best.' The prince encouraged guests to support the Eddie Jordan Foundation, which aims to help young people reach their full potential. It is chaired initially by Jordan's long-term friend and business partner, Keith O'Loughlin. [ Eddie Jordan obituary: Motor racing entrepreneur and gifted dealmaker Opens in new window ] [ Max Verstappen wins Emilia-Romagna GP to close gap on title rivals Opens in new window ] MC Paul Adamson noted how the late F1 team owner changed many people's lives for the better – including his own, when Jordan asked him to skipper his yacht on the 2014 Oyster World Rally. Others present included former Tour de France winner Stephen Roche and actor Liam Cunningham. The British Racing Drivers' Club event was a more relaxed affair, with several former drivers sharing their stories, including Damon Hill, Ralf Schumacher and David Coulthard. Aston Martin technical director Adrian Newey took time out from his work duties to spend time with the Jordan family, including Eddie's wife Marie and two of their children, Zoe and Kyle. A tribute film, narrated by Bono, was warmly received.
The Guardian
21-03-2025
- Automotive
- The Guardian
Eddie Jordan obituary
Viewers of Netflix's Drive to Survive have become accustomed to the modern Formula One world of enormous hi-tech teams supported by armies of corporate sponsors and marketing, media and PR specialists. Eddie Jordan, who has died aged 76 of prostate cancer, represented a previous era of buccaneering individualists who made their own luck and built their teams in their own image. 'We were johnny-come-latelies, noisy, brash, having a good time, giving the establishment two fingers,' Jordan told MotorSport magazine. 'So we got lots of attention, lots of value for our sponsors, and a huge fanbase.' Jordan Grand Prix draped Page 3 models over their cars and were the rock'n'rollers in the F1 paddock, not least because Jordan could frequently be seen flailing away behind his drumkit in his band Eddie's Pitstop Boogie Boys (who often played at Silverstone after the British Grand Prix) or subsequently Eddie & the Robbers. He was good friends with rock stars including George Harrison, Genesis's Mike Rutherford, Chris Rea and John Lydon, and when Led Zeppelin staged their one-off reunion at London's O2 Arena in 2007, Eddie was there. But he was also a brilliant entrepreneur and deal-maker. He gave Michael Schumacher his first Formula One drive, and his efforts also ensured that Jordan came fifth in the World Championship in their debut year of 1991, a remarkable achievement for a fledgling independent team. During his team's lifespan from 1991 to 2005, he employed numerous top drivers including Eddie Irvine, Rubens Barrichello, the 1996 world champion Damon Hill, Heinz-Harald Frentzen and Jean Alesi. In 1998, Hill brought the team their first win at the Belgian Grand Prix, and Frentzen added two more the following year, helping Jordan to reach third place in the World Championship, their best performance. In 2003 Giancarlo Fisichella won the team's final victory at Interlagos in Brazil. Jordan was a close friend of F1's eminence grise Bernie Ecclestone, and shared something of his deal-making instinct. In 1995 he made a small fortune by selling Irvine's contract to Ferrari. He explained: 'Irvine would come to me for free and I'd give him a three-year contract, and build him up, and build him up, and then sell him to Ferrari. He'd get 13 or 14 million and Ferrari would pay me five.' A major sponsorship deal with Benson & Hedges for the 1996 season prompted Jordan's cars to turn yellow. In 1998, Jordan sold half his shares to the private equity firm Warburg Pincus, then bought them back at a substantial profit. On Ecclestone's recommendation, he sold Jordan Grand Prix to the billionaire Alex Schnaider for a reported $60m, and in 2006 the team became Midland F1 (and would subsequently become Spyker and Force India before its latest iteration as Aston Martin). He pulled off another entrepreneurial coup in 2024, when acting as manager for Adrian Newey, arguably the greatest car designer in F1 history. He negotiated Newey's transfer from Red Bull to Aston Martin, based at Jordan's original Silverstone site, for a rumoured salary of £30m. After selling his team, he had a media career as an F1 pundit, for BBC Sport's Grand Prix programme from 2009, then for Channel 4's F1 coverage from 2016. He presented Top Gear in 2016-18, and in 2023 he and David Coulthard launched their podcast, Formula for Success. Eddie was born in Dublin, the son of Paddy and Eileen Jordan. His father was an accountant for the Electricity Supply Board, and his mother a housewife. He also had an elder sister, Helen. 'My mother was the boss and head of the family, and I think I took a lot from her,' Eddie told the Sunday Telegraph. 'We had that strong mother-and-youngest-son bond. I was driven.' He attended Synge Street Christian Brothers school, displaying early entrepreneurial flair by dealing conkers, marbles and school textbooks, and at one point considered becoming a priest (his father's twin sister was a senior nun with the Irish Sisters of Charity). He briefly considered dentistry but then got a job in the Bank of Ireland. In 1970, a banking strike prompted him to move to Jersey to earn money, where he not only trained in accountancy but tried go-karting, and became infatuated with it. Back in Ireland, he pursued his karting hobby and was successful enough to win the Irish Kart Championship in 1971. He then moved up to Formula Ford (partly sponsored by a Dublin carpet shop), although he suffered a temporary setback when he broke both legs in a crash at the Mallory Park circuit in Leicestershire in 1975. He bounced back in Formula Atlantic, and won the Irish Formula Atlantic title in 1978. He then moved to England and, now married to Marie McCarthy (a former basketball player for Ireland), tried his luck in Formula Three, but with little success. He decided to switch from driver to team owner, and formed Eddie Jordan Racing (EJR) in 1979. The team enjoyed a standout season in F3 in 1983, when their driver Martin Brundle came a close second to the gifted Brazilian driver Ayrton Senna. 'We so nearly won the championship because we psyched Senna, and he started to make mistakes,' Jordan said. In 1987 Johnny Herbert won the British F3 title with EJR, then in 1989 EJR's new signing, the French driver Alesi, won the F3000 title. Herbert had now entered F1 with the Benetton team, and Alesi followed suit with Tyrrell (assisted by Jordan's sponsorship contacts with the Camel cigarette brand). This inspired Jordan to make the leap to F1 himself. He assembled a team including the designer Gary Anderson, and attracted sponsorship from Marlboro, 7UP and the Irish government. He signed up the drivers Andrea de Cesaris and Bertrand Gachot, who racked up some solid results before Gachot was involved in a bizarre road-rage incident at Hyde Park Corner in London in which he sprayed a taxi driver with CS gas. This earned Gachot a prison sentence, and as replacement Jordan signed Schumacher for his F1 debut. Schumacher only drove once for Jordan, at Spa in Belgium, but his performance was so sensational that he was scooped up by the Benetton team, even though Jordan apparently had a watertight contract with him. The episode highlighted the machiavellian politics lurking behind the glamorous facade of F1. Jordan had numerous interests outside motor racing, building up a substantial property portfolio as well as being a shareholder in Celtic FC and co-owner of the London Irish Rugby Club. He had investments in gaming and entertainment businesses, and launched his own V-10 vodka and the energy drink EJ-10. He also owned several luxury yachts. He was a patron of the child cancer charity CLIC Sargent and the youth charity the Amber Foundation. In 2012 he was appointed an honorary OBE for his services to charity and motor racing. His autobiography, An Independent Man, was published in 2007. On Jordan's death, Ecclestone commented: 'Eddie was a special guy. Tell me which team principal today is like him. You can't give me one because there isn't one. They don't make them like that now. We will never replace him in Formula One.' He is survived by Marie and their children, Zoe, Miki, Zak and Kyle. Edmund Patrick Jordan, motor racing entrepreneur, driver, businessman and broadcaster, born 30 March 1948; died 20 March 2025
Yahoo
20-03-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Formula 1 Team Owner and Broadcaster Eddie Jordan Has Died
Eddie Jordan, a race-winning Formula 1 team owner, manager, and broadcaster, has died, Formula 1 CEO Stefano Domenicali announced Thursday on X. He was 76. Jordan began his racing career as a driver, working his way up from the Irish karting scene to Formula 2 before making a brief stop at the 1981 24 Hours of Le Mans in a BMW M1. After his career as a driver stalled out, Jordan founded his first racing team in 1979. His teams competed in British Formula 3 and Formula 3000, bringing up future F1 drivers Martin Brundle, Jean Alesi, and Johnny Herbert. Formula 1 followed, in 1991. His Jordan Grand Prix team gave a Mercedes sports car driver named Michael Schumacher his first F1 ride; that ended with a DNF on lap one, but Schumacher had been so impressive in practice and qualifying that he had signed with eventual champions Benetton one race later. Jordan Grand Prix scored points in every season it entered and won four times. The first win came with Damon Hill in 1998. A year later, Heinz-Harald Frentzen won twice and brought the team to a high of third in the constructor's championship. The team's final win came with Giancarlo Fisichella under unusual circumstances in 2003: controversy over official F1 timing after a race-ending red flag meant that the race was decided in court later in the week. It was one of just three points-paying finishes for the Jordan Grand Prix team that year. The team was eventually sold to Midland, who later sold it to Spyker. Force India owned the team for most of the intervening years before it became Racing Point, then finally, Aston Martin F1. After selling the team, Jordan worked as a broadcaster in England; he also served as Adrian Newey's manager, and last year he helped the legendary designer negotiate a deal with the Aston Martin team that traces its roots back to his own Jordan Grand Prix. Jordan had announced a prostate cancer diagnosis in December of last year. He died in South Africa on Thursday. He is survived by his wife and four children. You Might Also Like You Need a Torque Wrench in Your Toolbox Tested: Best Car Interior Cleaners The Man Who Signs Every Car
