Kris Meeke leads the Rally Guanajuato Mexico after a dramatic opening leg on Friday.

There was huge anticipation as the new-era World Rally Cars sampled gravel for the first time in the mountains near León, and Meeke put a troubled start to the season behind him to cope best in his Citroën C3 and lead Sébastien Ogier by 20.9sec.

The itinerary was shortened after the convoy of transporters delivering rally cars back to León following last night’s curtain-raising action in Mexico City’s Zócalo square was delayed by a serious motorway accident.

The road was closed for almost six hours and the cars did not arrive back at the service park in time for this morning’s 10.00 restart. Organisers scrapped the opening two speed tests covering 75km but when the action started in late afternoon, Meeke set the pace.

A low start position ensured he enjoyed cleaner and faster roads and he won the marathon 54.90km El Chocolate stage. Despite conceding a few seconds after stalling in the following test, he eased through the final three short asphalt stages with no issues.

“I made a mistake and lost a few seconds, but I’m quite satisfied. I’m really happy that finally we can show the potential of this car, but we still have things to do,” said Meeke, who suffered a problem-filled start to the year in Monte-Carlo and Sweden.

Although air temperatures were not high by Mexican standards, overheating engines were a concern for almost every driver. Ogier drove much of El Chocolate with a warning alarm flashing in his Ford Fiesta, but he shrugged off the problem to remain well in touch.

Hyundai trio Hayden Paddon, Dani Sordo and Thierry Neuville held third, fourth and fifth in their i20 Coupes. However, all three were stricken by a severe misfire in the final kilometres.

Neuville, who earlier claimed two stage wins, lost least time and ended third, 35.8sec behind Ogier. Paddon ceded almost 1min 45sec to drop to sixth while Sordo fared worst. He dropped several minutes to slip down the order.

Juho Hänninen, leader after last night’s Mexico City stages, was fourth in a Toyota Yaris 39.9sec behind Neuville. Aside from overheating issues, the Finn could barely speak after losing his voice.

The water temperature in Ott Tänak’s Fiesta hovered at 120°C for most of El Chocolate and the Estonian dropped almost 80sec as he struggled on. He was fifth, with Paddon just a tenth of a second ahead of seventh-placed Stéphane Lefebvre.

Citroen Day 1 Review

Despite being shorn of half of the planned stages, day two of Rally Mexico nonetheless served up plenty of twists and turns. Keeping out of trouble, Kris Meeke and Paul Nagle ended the rally's first full leg in the overall lead. In the second Citroën C3 WRC, Stéphane Lefebvre and Gabin Moreau moved up to sixth place.

- Held up by a road traffic accident unrelated to the rally, the convoy of trucks transporting the race cars from Mexico City to León remained stuck on the road for several hours overnight. The organisers were therefore forced to cancel SS2 and SS3.

- In the middle of the afternoon, the competitors were finally able to attack the gravel stages. The leg began with the famous El Chocolate speed test, the rally's longest stage at 54.9km. Making the most of his tyre choice – which consisted of a mix of soft and hard compound Michelin LTX Force tyres – and his road position, Kris Meeke produced a flawless performance to record his first stage win in the Citroën C3 WRC.

- Despite losing a few seconds when he stalled on Las Minas (SS5), the Briton held onto top spot in the overall standings, leading Sébastien Ogier by around fifteen seconds.

- Applying the instructions of the team, Stéphane Lefebvre adopted a pace that would enable him to build up his experience gradually. Eighth on SS4 and SS5, he moved up to the same position in the overall standings.

- The day concluded with three super special stages. After wowing the crowds gathered in the former mining city of Guanajuato, the crews then competed in head-to-head heats over two runs on the León Autodrome.

- At the end of this second leg, Kris Meeke remained first overall, having taken his lead past the twenty second mark. Meanwhile, Stéphane Lefebvre gained another two places to end the day in sixth overall.

- Tomorrow, Rally Mexico continues with the event's longest day. The leg features nine stages, covering a total distance of 157km.

Yves Matton, Citroën Racing Team Principal
"It has been an encouraging start on gravel for the Citroën C3 WRC. Due to its length, the heat and the outside temperature, El Chocolate is this rally's most demanding stage. We were therefore pleased to set the fastest time with a reliable, fast car, which handled well for the drivers. We had nonetheless adopted a fairly conservative approach, as can be seen in the fact we chose to carry two spare tyres."

Kris Meeke
"Everything went very well today. We clearly had a good road position, but we had to make the most of it. I didn't push too hard, because winning isn't my main target for the weekend. My only regret was the minor mistake I made on SS5, which cost us about eight or nine seconds. But it's good to be running well after a pretty tough start to the season! I'll be looking keep up the same pace tomorrow."

Stéphane Lefebvre
"For my first appearance at this rally in a WRC, the team asked me to focus on learning about the stages and adopt a measured pace. We made the right call on tyre choice and I remained focused on my job behind the wheel. The two gravel stages gave me a chance to improve and I'm pleased to be in sixth position, less than half a minute from the top 5."


UNOFFICIAL STANDINGS AFTER DAY 2

1. Meeke / Nagle (Citroën C3 WRC) 1:01:33.8
2. Ogier / Ingrassia (Ford Fiesta RS WRC) +20.9
3. Neuville / Gilsoul (Hyundai i20 WRC) +56.7
4. Hänninen / Lindstrom (Toyota Yaris WRC) +1:27.3
5. Tanak / Jarveoja (Ford Fiesta RS WRC) +1:32.9
6. Lefebvre / Moreau (Citroën C3 WRC) +1:52.8
7. Paddon / Kennard (Hyundai i20 WRC) +2:02.1
8. Latvala / Anttila (Toyota Yaris WRC) +2:30.8