World Rally Championship: Kris Meeke fourth after day two in Mexico

Kris Meeke has had five WRC career wins

Northern Ireland's Kris Meeke is in fourth place after day two of the World Rally Championship round in Mexico.

Meeke, 38, took the lead on stage two, but Hyundai's Dani Sordo put a run of stage wins together to surge ahead.

The Citroen driver also slipped behind returning team-mate Sebastien Loeb and Toyota's Ott Tanak after two spins.

Meeke, who won Rally Mexico in dramatic circumstances last year, is 25 seconds behind leader Sordo, and 14 seconds off third-placed Tanak.

The Dungannon driver was running in second during the morning loop after setting two fastest times, but two spins in stage seven and eight saw him 18 seconds, falling behind Loeb and Tanak in the process.

"I had a simple spin. I just dropped a wheel into one of those little off camber corners, I spun and had to reverse through the dust," said Meeke, who sits eighth in the 2018 standings after two rallies.

Nine-time WRC champion Loeb is running strongly in his first of three appearances in the place of Irishman Craig Breen this season, setting the fastest time in stage seven, El Chocolate, and stage eight, Ortega.

It has been a demanding rally so far, with Elyfn Evans, Teemu Suninen and Esapekka Lappi all retiring through incidents, and Jari-Matti Latvala was also forced out of the event with an alternator issue.