Things started out wrong for the OMV Kronos Citroën Team during Rally d'Italia Sardegna.

After rolling over the ceremonial start ramp aboard the second Xsara, driver Daniel Carlsson announced he was withdrawing from the competiton. At the time, personal considerations were given as the reason for the surprising turn of events.

It appeared afterwards that Carlsson had not taken part in the reconaissance runs for the rally and only passed over the start line last Friday morning to avoid a penalty fee to his team for declaring forfeit on his part.

It now seems that Carlsson did not have the necessary funds to continue on with the present WRC season.

The way the situation was handled was not appreciated by the FIA stewards, who called a meeting with the OMV Kronos Team's Marc van Dalen and Luc Manset in order for both men to explain themselves. It is clear now that the team principals were by no means responsible for the actions taken, which were very unfavorable to them.

The stewards came to the conclusion that it was necessary, in the interest of the sport, to ensure that Carlsson not be in a position to repeat the same scenario during subsequent events. Measures have therefore been enforced.

Daniel Carlsson – and co-driver Denis Giraudet – will not be allowed to participate in this season's remaining World Rally Championship events.

The OMV Kronos Citroën team will nonetheless still be required to pay the entry fees for the events where Carlsson was scheduled to be present. If a new crew is available, they will be permitted to participate in future rallies and score points.

The FIA also ordered that the team obtain the consent of the other competitors in order to allow driver Manfred Stohl to continue with his WRC participation.