Eddie Jordan takes the plunge

Eddie Jordan’s success in F3000 prompted him to take the plunge and launch a Formula 1 program for the 1991 season, and he renamed his team Jordan Grand Prix. The first driver to test the new Jordan 191 F1 car was veteran John Watson, due to Irish connections, but Eddie hired Italian Andrea de Cesaris and Belgian Bertrand Gachot (pictured above) to race his Ford-powered cars.

The Irish team had an excellent first season, with limited resources, and finished 1991 in fifth place in the constructors’ championship, while de Cesaris finished ninth in the drivers’ championship. This result could have been even better, as the Italian was in second place at the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa, and was catching the struggling leader Ayrton Senna when his engine gave up the ghost in the closing laps…

A Grand Prix that also saw Michael Schumacher’s thunderous F1 debut in the Jordan, but that’s another story. Bertrand Gachot scored points three times and set the fastest lap in the race in Hungary, proving his qualities and those of his single-seater designed by Gary Anderson (picture-below). In my opinion, one of the prettiest in history.