Kris Meeke takes second career World Rally Championship win in Portugal

Kris Meeke's only previous world rally win came in Argentina last year

Northern Ireland's Kris Meeke secured the second World Rally Championship win of his career by taking victory in the Rally of Portugal.

The Citroen driver finished the 19 stages of the event 29.7 seconds ahead of Norway's Andreas Mikkelsen.

World champion Sebastien Ogier was third, a further five seconds adrift.

Tyrone native Meeke, whose previous world rally win came in Argentina last season, is racing a reduced schedule for Citroen this season.

Meeke and co-driver Paul Nagle enjoyed a 45.3 seconds lead over Frenchman Ogier overnight and the Dungannon man negotiated the final four stages of the rally without major incident.

Mikkelsen moved above fellow Volkswagen driver Ogier into second spot and now trails the reigning champion by 47 points at the top of the overall standings.

Ogier has 1114 points after five rounds of the series, with Mikkelsen on 67 and Mads Ostberg third on 58.

Meeke will race in six to eight rounds of this year's championship as he helps develop a new car before returning to full seasons in 2017 and 2018.

New Zealand driver Hayden Paddon and his co-driver escaped injury on Friday when his car burst into flames after a crash on stage five.

The next round of the championship will be held in Italy in mid-June.