Kris Meeke: Dungannon driver third after opening day in Rally Spain

Kris Meeke and Paul Nagle in action during Rally Finland during the summer

Dungannon's Kris Meeke sits third after the opening day of the World Rally Championship round in Spain.

The Citroen driver, 38, sits three seconds behind Huyundai's Andreas Mikklesen, with M-Sport Ford's Sebastien Ogier sitting in second.

Despite a slight spin on stage four, Meeke had a largely uneventful opening day after an incident-filled season.

A wrong tyre choice in the morning saw him lose 10 seconds on stage three which was raced over gravel terrain.

Switching to the hard tyre in the afternoon loop, Meeke moved up the standings and he was second quickest on the final stage of the day.

"We had a much better run on the hard tyres," said Meeke.

"I'm a bit frustrated about the mistake but I'm in a good position overnight, so I'm happy."

A dramatic victory in Mexico remains a rare highlight in 2017 but crashes in Monte Carlo, Sweden, Portugal, Argentina, Italy and Germany along with an engine failure while leading in Corsica have ruined Meeke's season.

Fermanagh driver Jon Armstrong lies 10th in the WRC2 class in his second outing of the year.

The 22-year-old, driving a in a Ford Fiesta R5, finished 14th in class in the previous event in Germany.