Victory for Kris Meeke on this weekend's Rallye Sanremo has seen the British Peugeot/BFGoodrich driver sew up the 2009 drivers' title with one round of this season's Intercontinental Rally Challenge still to come.

BFGoodrich, which has already made sure of the manufacturers' crown with its partner Peugeot, monopolised the final podium of the Italian classic despite fierce opposition from its rivals.

Before the start of the 2009 Rallye Sanremo, two drivers were still in the running for this year's title, namely Jan Kopecky (Skoda/BFGoodrich), winner of two recent rounds on the trot, and Kris Meeke (Peugeot/BFGoodrich), who pocketed three victories during the early part of the campaign.

The Skoda driver got his weekend off to a flying start by posting the fastest time on Friday's opening stage, but he then went off on the following test, promptly handing his rival a clear edge in the chase for the coveted crown. As things stood on Friday evening, though, with Kris Meeke in fourth place behind two Italians and 2008 champion Nicolas Vouilloz, the outcome was by no means completely decided.

When competition resumed on Saturday however, the Ulsterman turned on the heat at the wheel of his Peugeot 207 S2000 running on hard compound BFGoodrich tyres to claim the classic Monte Ceppo and Colle d'Oggia tests and ease clear at the top of the leaderboard, ahead of Luca Rossetti's factory-run Abarth/BFGoodrich.

From then on, even brake trouble on SS7 couldn't prevent Meeke and his co-driver from controlling from the front to clinch the 2009 IRC crown at their first attempt in this particularly thrilling and competitive series.

The early domination of Paolo Andreucci (Peugeot) soon faded and the second leg rapidly saw the BFGoodrich brigade take control, its ranks led by Kris Meeke, Luca Rossetti, outgoing champion Nicolas Vouilloz and the latter's Peugeot Belux teammate Freddy Loix. Despite the usual fierce competition it has come to expect in Sanremo, BFGoodrich went on to secure the top four places in the final classification.

Following its successes in 2007 (Garcia-Ojeda and Peugeot) and 2008 (Vouilloz and Peugeot), the result in Italy hands the American tyre brand a third consecutive IRC drivers' and manufacturers' double. The weekend also saw BFGoodrich claim both titles in the two-wheel drive category, in association with Peugeot and Frenchman Denis Millet.

"This weekend's result has seen BFGoodrich enjoy rich pickings and our tyres have once again succeeded in showcasing their potential," said Jacques Morelli, the Manager of BFGoodrich's IRC programme.