Legendary former Formula 1 team owner and media personality Eddie Jordan dead at 76

SHANGHAI — Ex-Formula 1 team owner and media personality Eddie Jordan has died, according to a statement by his family.He was 76.Often known simply as “EJ,” he ran his own Jordan team in the 1990s and 2000s in F1.

His humor, strong opinions and often extravagant dress sense made Jordan a popular pundit on TV after selling the team in 2005.Jordan was undergoing treatment for what he had called “quite aggressive” cancer of the bladder and prostate which spread to his spine and pelvis.The family statement, published by rugby club London Irish, where Jordan was a patron, said he “passed away peacefully with family by his side in Cape Town” early Thursday.“EJ brought an abundance of charisma, energy and Irish charm everywhere he went.We all have a huge hole missing without his presence.

He will be missed by so many people, but he leaves us with tons of great memories to keep us smiling through our sorrow.”F1 president and chief executive Stefano Domenicali, who was a senior Ferrari employee when Jordan owned his team, said Jordan was “a protagonist of an era of F1 and he will be deeply missed.”“With his inexhaustible energy he always knew how to make people smile, remaining genuine and brilliant at all times.”Irish businessman Jordan operated his own racing team in lower-level series before moving up to F1 in 1991, giving future seven-time champion Michael Schumacher his first race that year.Christian Horner, then a young driver dreaming of F1 and now Red Bull team principal, recalled the advice he got from Jordan in 1991: “Get a good sponsor … welcome to the Piranha Club!” F1 has “lost a legend,” Horner said.Jordan gave Schumacher his break in F1 because his regular driver Bertrand Gachot was sentenced to prison for assaulting a London taxi driver.The then-22-year-old Schumacher was with the team for only a single race before Benetton signed him in controversial circumstances.

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