Sordo of Damocles

Who'd have thought Neneh Cherry and Dani Sordo would have had so much in common? Actually, they don't. Just the one thing, really: seven seconds. Neneh sang it. Dani's stuck on it.

Seven seconds. And no wins. Is that surprising for a driver who has 'only' contested 41 World Rally Championship rounds in a World Rally Car? Yes and no. Forty-one isn't a vast amount of experience at this level - but all of those rallies have been at the wheel of a factory car (let's not pretend his 2006, Kronos-run Xsara was anything else).

When Sordo won the 2005 Junior World Rally Championship title, his immediate future in the WRC was assured. He was a Citroen boy in the mould of Sebastien Loeb.

Unlike his senior team-mate who, incidentally, won on his 13th outing in a World Rally Car, the world hasn't fallen at Sordo's feet after a steady sequence of record-breaking rally victories and mind-bending career stats that are unlikely ever to be beaten. No, since turning professional, Sordo's career has followed a different path. The one littered with, er, no wins.

Dani Sordo at speed in the Acropolis Rally © LAT

Sordo ended last year with an impressive collection of podiums: four from the last five rallies, including a striking second on an exceptionally tricky and technical Rally Ireland. This year, however, he hasn't looked anything like as assured in the C4. People are expecting from Sordo and, right now, he's not delivering. There have been rumours in the French press over his future in the Citroen team, but team principal Olivier Quesnel defends his number two driver. Defend him he might, but that doesn't mean he can't see his shortcomings.

"Dani's a nice guy," Quesnel says - in accordance with the rest of the service park. "But sometimes he doesn't work or he's not determined enough."

Coming back to Quesnel's point later, I try to precis his words by labelling Sordo, perhaps slightly clumsily, or lazy. Quesnel takes exception to that and seeks to clarify his point.

"Dani is not lazy, no," Quesnel says. "He is relaxed, because he's talented. Because of that maybe he doesn't work enough. Before, Dani was not adult enough, but it's coming. He understands more now."

Sordo is clearly a source of frustration for some of his fellow Citroen employees. He's quick, no doubt about that. He's started 53 WRC rounds and has scored 52 fastest times. But every now and then he shows a deep lack of experience.

It's 3.10pm on an achingly hot Saturday in central Greece. Sordo sits on a start line, mid-way through the 2008 Acropolis Rally. He's leading by half a minute and there are people around thinking those thoughts. This is no ordinary start line, though. This is the start of the 20-mile journey to Aghii Theodori. This road, in this heat, is to tyres what a hot knife is to butter. With two more stages to follow, rubber preservation is more important than anything else in Sordo's world for the next hour or so.

By the third split, Sordo was, give or take, five seconds up on Loeb. This wasn't the way it was supposed to be. Loeb's ability to look after his tyres is second to none at this level. He was driving with his head. Sordo was focused on his right foot. Sure enough, a stage later and Sordo's lead is gone. His tyres shot, punctures abound and the groans from the inner sanctum of Citroen's mission control are audible from one end of Tatoi to the other.

The Acropolis was in the palm of Sordo's hand, but he dropped it. He was stupid and impetuous at a time when he should have been sensible and controlled.

Dani Sordo on the podium at Rally Ireland with Daniel Elena and Sebastien Loeb © LAT

At the outset, Carlos Sainz was quick to champion Sordo's cause. It was the double world champion who made the right introductions on Sordo's part. The 25-year-old has a great deal to thank Sainz for and, while they still talk, they're not as close as they could be.

Sainz had - and probably still has - a ferocious work ethic that extends to whatever he's doing at the time. Anybody who fails to match that commitment is not really going to see eye to eye with him.

In fairness, few drivers could ever truly match Sainz for commitment to the cause, but Sordo's relaxed outlook doesn't get him off to the best of starts. That might sound harsh. While Sainz was all brow-furrowed brooding in the service park, Sordo is the polar opposite. He's the funny guy.

"This is my personality," says Sordo. "I like to have a laugh sometimes. I don't like the stress in the rally."

Whether he likes it or not, stress has been coming his way for a while.

"There is pressure," he says. "Of course there is. There is pressure on all of the team. I feel I have more confidence this year - particularly on the gravel - but there has been more pressure on those rallies."

For the outsider, it would appear that pressure should be ramping up horribly as this week's Rally Deutschland closes in on Sordo. He is known as an asphalt man. Anything worse than second in the Mosel will be viewed as a failure by the outside world. Loeb has won this event six times. And Sordo's sitting in the sister car to the Baumholdermeister.

Sordo's confident, bullish even about this week.

"When will I win?" he says, checking he's got the question right. "This week."

Pause. Laugh.

Dani Sordo © LAT

"I don't know," he picks up. "I know I have three very good chances with the three asphalt rallies coming up. I don't know if it's possible in Germany, but I will work very hard to make that possible."

Sordo's learning. There's no doubt about that. And being Loeb's wingman brings its own problems.

"It's not always easy being teammate to Sebastien," he says. "But then it can also be very nice - he's always someone nice for me to learn from."

Publicly, Citroen states that Sordo remains the number two driver next season, but there have been rumblings about a departure over the closed season.

Quesnel's ready to scotch those rumours.

"Imagine," he says, "if we don't have Dani. Who else is there? Dani's still young and progressing. I'm happy about this. If he wasn't progressing, I wouldn't be happy. He is fast and we have to give him his chance."

Sordo's chance is right now. This week. Let's face it - and Quesnel's open and frank about this - if both cars run well in first and second, Sordo's always going to be second. If that's the case, Sordo needs to be looking for a rallying equivalent to Rubens Barrichello and Michael Schumacher, Austrian Grand Prix 2002.

The right noises may be being made by the boss, but that first win is overdue. His cause wasn't helped when Ford's number two Jari-Matti Latvala broke his duck on February's Swedish Rally. Those on the outside, looking into Citroen, see a youngster who has been given the winning lottery ticket, yet he's struggling to find his way to the shop to cash it in.

Sordo's not the kind of bloke who needs a shrink, indeed he would likely find the prospect of a deep and meaningful with one of those psychological types wholly amusing, but Quesnel thinks there is something up top that needs unravelling.

"It's in here," says Quesnel tapping his forehead. "Before he was really fast for one stage, after that he was fast for one day and then two days and now I would like him to be fast for three days. The first time he does win, he will be a different guy. Something will happen in his mind and he will win and win."

In the meantime, he'll remain one of the most popular people in the WRC and a devilishly quick driver with the conundrum about him. Looking on the bright side, second in Germany this week would at least put a stop to those awful Neneh Cherry analogies.