Somewhat clueless after strong startThe OMV Kronos Citroen World Rally Team had expected a better start into Rally d'Italia Sardegna, the seventh run of the FIA World Rally Championship 2007.
Manfred Stohl and Ilka Minor fought their way through the morning, despite
the fact that the 117th WRC-assignment had started out very promising for the OMV driver.
Manfred Stohl had been confident once again prior to the start of the Rally Sardinia. Several new parts were supposed to considerably speed up the 34-year-old OMV driver's Citroen Xsara WRC.
This seemed to come true at the beginning of the rally. Stohl was in a sensational fourth place at halftime of the 32.13-kilometre-long first special stage on Friday, but then the dream came to an end.
"Suddenly, from one moment to the next, the handling of the car was gone. At first I thought we had a tyre damage and the mousse wasn't working correctly. But everything was in order after the special stage. Except that the
Xsara was undriveable," Stohl explained.
At the service following the three morning special stages, the whole car was thoroughly checked. "I hope that it will be like in the beginning for back then I was really happy," hoped Manfred.
For Daniel Carlsson the Rally Sardinia is already history. The 30-year-old Swede parked his Citroen Xsara WRC after having crossed the showstart ramp on Thursday evening in Porto Cervo.
Carlsson cited personal reasons for this action and does not want to give any further comment for the time being.
Source OMV Kronos Citroen WRT
