Sponsorship blow for Jordan as Ford declines to back him

EDDIE JORDAN’S hopes of having official backing from American car giant Ford next season have been scuppered at the last minute.

Senior Ford management last night formally ruled out any chance of the famous blue oval appearing on Jordan cars in 2003 and engaging in a Formula One fight with its own Jaguar brand.

The Irishman, who looks set to lose his Honda deal at the end of the year, has been told by Ford that he can have Cosworth engines next season but only on a customer basis.

“There has been a great deal of media speculation in the past few days concerning the supply of Cosworth engines to F1 teams next year,” said Richard Parry Jones, the group vice-president, product development, and technical officer of Ford Motor Company.

“As an engine supplier, Cosworth Racing is in discussion with teams about the possible supply of engines for next season.

“This is perfectly normal practice and in the event of any agreement an official statement would be made through Cosworth Racing at the appropriate time.”

Formula One sources confirmed that the Ford name will not be returning to F1 for the first time since it bought Jackie Stewart’s team and re-badged it Jaguar for the 2000 campaign.

The decision is a major boost to the Jaguar racing team as it confirms Ford’s commitment to the Milton Keynes based outfit which is headed by Austria’s three-time former world champion Niki Lauda.

If the blue oval had been prominent on the Jordan next season, it would inevitably have been seen as the start of the withdrawal of the Jaguar name from F1.

But the late scuppering of the deal will be a blow to Jordan as he battles to secure an engine deal, with current partners Honda almost certainly only going to supply British American Racing from 2003.

Jordan had been in talks for several weeks with management from Ford Europe and it is understood he was hoping to make an announcement soon.

Though Jordan would still have had to pay for the engines, having the Ford name on his cars would have boosted his chances of securing other forms of sponsorship.

Now Jordan will have to come up with around £33 million if he wants a supply of Cosworth engines similar to that enjoyed by F1 rivals Arrows.