In 2000, Eddie Jordan’s Irish team entered its tenth season in Formula 1. For this reason, it was decided to abandon the traditional naming convention of the cars that had come out of the Silverstone factory up to that point, which reflected the year of use (199 for the ’99 car, 198 for the ’98 one, and so on) and to adopt a new designation: “EJ10”. Given the surprising results of ’99, with the Irish team finishing third in the Constructors' Championship thanks to two wins, and lead driver Frentzen fighting for the championship until three races from the end, additional investments were made for the first season of the new millennium to compete on equal terms with the more renowned Ferrari and McLaren-Mercedes teams.
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| JORDAN EJ10, Jarno Trulli Suzuka, Japanese GP 2000 |
Eddie Jordan confirmed Mike Gascoyne in his role as Technical Director, Gascoyne had joined from Tyrrell in mid-’98, replacing long-time designer Gary Anderson. The new EJ10 was once again entrusted to Mark Smith, who had been with Jordan for ten seasons. As in ’99, Tim Holloway supported Gascoyne in his duties, Bob Bell continued as Technology Director, and John Iley remained Head of Aerodynamics. The large budget guaranteed by the main sponsor, Benson & Hedges, a British cigarette brand from the Gallaher Group produced in Lisnafillan, Northern Ireland, and the revenue from the FIA thanks to the previous season’s strong performances, led Gascoyne and Smith to design a car that was "extreme" in every area but, as often happens, difficult to set up and push to the limit. Aesthetically, the EJ10 didn’t differ much from its predecessor, the 199, also because the modern Formula 1 design philosophy made all cars look very similar due to aerodynamic regulations that left little room for design creativity.
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| JORDAN EJ10, Heinz-Harald Frentzen Montecarlo, Monaco GP 2000 |
The small differences could be seen in the engine air intake, now triangular in shape and no longer detached from the car body, and in the two aerodynamic “slides” located on either side of the engine cover. The usual evolution of chassis and suspension, however, led to poor performance with Bridgestone tires, which suffered from excessive wear due to difficulty reaching operating temperature. To address this issue, from the Austrian Grand Prix onward, a “B” version of the EJ10 was introduced, with a complete redesign of the suspension and engine electronics. The engine powering the Irish car in 2000 was still the Mugen-Honda MF-301H V10, upgraded to version E, although “downgraded” might be more accurate, given that it had less power than the ’99 version D. This was due to Honda’s official return to Formula 1 as the exclusive engine supplier for the BAR team, and Mugen-Honda had already announced in January its intention to withdraw at the end of the season.
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| JORDAN EJ10, Heinz-Harald Frentzen Suzuka, Japanese GP 2000 |
As for the drivers, German Heinz-Harald Frentzen was confirmed, and Italian Jarno Trulli was signed from Prost Grand Prix. Despite the car's potential, which often matched the pace of the more competitive Ferrari and McLaren-Mercedes, the drivers suffered from the car’s poor reliability, retiring 16 times in 34 starts. The main issues stemmed from the electronics, which also drew scrutiny from the FIA. During the 2000 San Marino Grand Prix weekend at Imola, FIA President Max Mosley stated that someone in 1999 had used electronics to illegally control the car’s traction. He added that, fortunately, whoever had done this hadn’t finished first or second in the championship. These comments fueled speculation about Jordan Grand Prix, which had finished third the previous year. This was further supported by the fuel flap, which during multiple races in ’99 would open during the race, raising suspicions that the speed limiter, which by regulation was only supposed to be activated in the pit lane (automatically opening the flap), was actually being used as an anti-spin device during races. Despite the suspicions, nothing was ever proven, and the third place remained officially in the record books as the best result in Eddie Jordan's F1 history.
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| JORDAN EJ10, Jarno Trulli Interlagos, Brazilian GP 2000 |
The introduction of the “B” version of the car, which came after Gascoyne's departure to join Benetton, did not bring the expected improvements. Once again, the best results came from Frentzen, who managed to reach the third step of the podium twice. The season ended on a downbeat note with just 17 points, a stark contrast to the 61 of the previous year, and a modest sixth place in the Constructors' Championship, ahead only of the backmarker teams like Arrows, Sauber, Jaguar, Minardi, and Prost. With the season over, on December 13, 2000, a new V10 Honda RA001 engine was installed in an EJ10, which would power the team’s new cars starting from the 2001 season.
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