Meeke takes lead on chaotic second day

Britain’s Kris Meeke took the lead in a chaotic second day of the Mexico Rally on Friday after organisers were forced to cancel the opening two special stages after a car crash.Citroen driver Meeke led the overall standings with a time of 1hr 1min 33.8sec, just over 20 seconds clear of France’s Sebastien Ogier (M-Sport/Ford), who was second with 1:01:54.7.Belgium’s Thierry Neuville (Hyundai Motorsport) was third overall with 1:02:30.5, just under a minute behind leader Meeke.Friday’s action was disrupted when the convoy of cars taking part in the race were held by a traffic accident on the 400km drive linking Mexico City to the service park in Leon.That delay forced the cancellation of the day’s first two scheduled specials, leaving the drivers to start on SS4, the 54.9km run known locally as “El Chocolate”. Meeke clocked the fastest run 39:15.6, ahead of Ogier who was second quickest.The next two specials went to Neuville but Meeke did enough to retain his overall lead in the standings. Meeke was then back in front on the seventh special, completing a 2.3km sprint on the Autodromo De Leon course in 1min 40sec.Ogier was only sixth quickest with 1:43.1.Welshman Elfyn Evans then set the pace in the eighth special of the day, guiding his M-Sport Ford Fiesta around the 2.3km course in 1:38, with Meeke second quickest in 1:38.3.standings1. Kris Meeke-Paul Nagle (GBR-IRL/Citroën C3) 2. Sébastien Ogier-Julien Ingrassia (FRA/Ford Fiesta RS) 3. Thierry Neuville-Nicolas Gilsoul (BEL/Hyundai i20) 4. Juho H?nninen-Kaj Lindstr?m (FIN/Toyota Yaris) 5. Ott T?nak-Raigo Molder (EST/Ford Fiesta RS) 6. Stéphane Lefebvre-Gabin Moreau (FRA/Citroën) 7. Hayden Paddon-John Kennard (NZL/Hyundai i20) 8. Jari-Matti Latvala-Miikka Anttila (FIN/Toyota Yaris) 9. Pontus Tidemand-Jonas Andersson (SWE/Skoda Fabia/WRC2) 10. Eric Camilli-Benjamin Veillas (FRA/Ford Fiesta R5/WRC2)