Peugeot's historic podium lock-out.

Peugeot 206 WRCs have scored an amazing clean sweep of the podium positions on the Tour de Corse, the third round of the FIA World Rally Championship which finished in Corsica this afternoon.

Gilles Panizzi and his navigator, brother Herve, sprayed the victory champagne in Ajaccio after three days of difficult competition on the Mediterranean island's notoriously twisty mountain roads. And with team-mates Marcus Gronholm/Timo Rautiainen finishing second, Peugeot scored a maximum points haul in the manufacturers' championship to extend its series lead. Richard Burns/Robert Reid increased the team's joy further by claiming the final podium position.

After mist, drizzle and rain yesterday, today's closing four stages were held in dry conditions under clear blue skies. With a lead of more than 40s and more than 100km of action still remaining, Panizzi just had to maintain concentration in the final tests to claim the fourth World Rally Championship win of his career.

An accident for Colin McRae in the penultimate stage meant that Gilles was unable to complete that test and he started the last stage not knowing which representative time the officials would give him. But Panizzi used the Peugeot split time boards to judge his pace perfectly, ensuring victory by more than 40 seconds. Throughout the day, the only mechanical problem encountered by the three 206 WRC drivers was slight brake fade in the longer sections.

Gilles Panizzi said: "I'm really happy. This is my fourth world championship victory and it's the best, because we've led right from the first stage and I've shown that I can cope with any conditions. The 206 WRC was perfect for me here and whether it was wet or dry we were able to go fastest. The confusion near the end wasn't such a big problem for me - I knew what I had to do to absolutely guarantee victory so I looked at the split time boards in the middle of the stage and kept concentration. I can't wait for Catalunya now!"

Gronholm knew he'd have to keep an eye on Burns his morning, since Burns is a fan of today's stages and started the leg just 21s behind the Finn. Burns chose a slightly softer tyre for the day's opening two tests and it paid off, as he closed the gap to Gronholm to just 14s. But the 2000 world champion retaliated in the penultimate stage to secure the runners-up position. Burns, meanwhile, claimed a comfortable third to score his first podium finish for Peugeot.

Gronholm said: "I'm pleased to get such a good result here, because it's a great victory for Peugeot and it helps me a lot in the drivers' championship too. The car has been very good this weekend - our only problem has been a little brake fade - and I was able to attack quite hard. We lost some time yesterday by not changing the set-ups for the wet conditions quickly enough but I don't think I could have caught Gilles anyway. He was very quick."

Richard Burns added: "I'm reasonably pleased. It would have been nice to have been ahead of Marcus but even though I feel quite comfortable in the 206 now, I found it hard to be consistent with the brake problems. Still, it's a great result for the whole team and I'm glad that I've scored my first podium finish for Peugeot and my best ever result in Corsica. Catalunya's next and I've been strong there before so I'm hopeful that we can challenge for victory."

Peugeot Total Sport Team Principal Corrado Provera concluded: "This really is a historic result for Peugeot. It's difficult to put into words the amount of work that the whole team has put in to reach this level of performance and reliability. But even this one-two-three here in France - our home rally - won't allow us to forget that there are still 11 rounds remaining and the target, the manufacturers' championship, is still a long way away. We're not about to get stupid or excessively proud about this - there is still a lot of work ahead. But here, the drivers have been fantastic, the engineers have been fantastic and the engineers have been fantastic!"

The FIA World Rally Championship stays on asphalt for its next round, the Rallye Catalunya near Barcelona on March 21-24. Last year, Peugeot 206s scored a memorable victory there and with Panizzi, Gronholm and Burns clearly in top form, the team has high hopes of extending its championship advantage even further.