Swedish Rally: Gronholm's victory

Peugeot scored a one-two with Gronholm and last year's victor Harri Rovanpera, while Burns ran Ford's Carlos Sainz very close for third, almost giving Peugeot a clean sweep of the podium.

The potential thorns in Peugeot's side were removed from the equation early on. Monte winner Tommi Makinen lasted only until the fourth special stage when he ploughed his Subaru Impreza into a snowbank, inflicting mortal wounds on his car's cooling system. Team-mate Petter Solberg then went out with engine failure soon afterwards.

Ford's Colin McRae was the only other candidate likely to challenge the 206s, but the Scot continues to be dogged by poor luck. This time, Mitsubishi's Jani Paasonen played an unwitting part in his downfall by going off early on Saturday and dragging a rock into the road, which Colin later collected with his left-rear wheel.

"We were exiting a corner and suddenly we heard a bang, "said McRae. "The left rear wheel had shattered and we drove about a kilometre before we found somewhere to stop and change it."

Despite losing a heap of time, McRae battled back impressively. He ended up in a last-gasp fight with brother Alister (Mitsubishi) over sixth place, but a high-speed spin on the final stage meant he fell just 0.3secs short of his sibling.

Both finished behind the fifth placed M-Sport Ford of young Finn Janne Tuohino, who dutifully took a 10sec penalty to ensure Colin got a point.

Burns was the best of the Brits, but lost time with an off into a snowbank on the opening day which cost half a minute and meant he tumbled from third to 15th. The Englishman showed his true colours by battling his way back into the top four and he just missed out on third by 8s, as Sainz's luck - just like the special mousse that inflated when he got a puncture on the final stage - held firm.

"I was trying as hard as I could to catch Carlos without taking big risks," said Burns. "To get fourth is good because on the first day I didn't even think I would get out of that stage."

The real stars of the show were Gronholm and Peugeot, with shades of the form that they showed together two years ago.

"We had a plan for this rally to attack on leg two and it worked," said Gronholm, who stamped his authority over runner-up Rovanpera on Saturday. "I'm extremely confident about our performances on loose surfaces."

Gronholm now leads the drivers' championship ahead of Makinen and Sainz, while Peugeot heads the manufacturers' race by four points from Ford, prompting Peugeot's motorsport boss Corrado Provera to declare: "It doesn't get much better than this."