Brazil win gives Meeke vital points

COLIN McRae protégé Kris Meeke got his Intercontinental Rally Challenge title defence back on course with a comfortable victory in the Rally of Curitiba in Brazil.

The Dungannon driver, who was guided through the early years of his career by the former world champion, dominated the event in his Peugeot S2000. The Irishman cruised to victory, eventually backing off to win by 46.7 seconds ahead of RallyScotland winner Guy Wilks.

"It's been absolutely fabulous, a near perfect result," said Meeke, who crashed out of the season opener in Monte Carlo but who won in Brazil last season. "We had a strategy to put our knowledge to good use in the beginning and we were able to take a bit of a lead."

Meeke, whose fifth IRC win is a record in the fledgling series, is now second in the championship, four points behind the Skoda of Finn Juho Hanninen, who finished third.

• Six-time world champion Sebastien Loeb took charge of the Rally of Mexico, leading by almost a minute after winning all but one of the stages on the second leg.