Kris Meeke won rally Guanajuato mexico on Sunday despite almost throwing victory away when he crashed less than a kilometre from the finish of the final speed test.

The Briton led for virtually the entire four-day dirt road event in a Citroen C3 to head Sebastien Ogier by 13.8sec after scrabbling back onto the road by driving through a spectator car park

His fourth career victory launched him up to sixth in the FIA World Rally Championship standings after miserable results from the opening two rounds in Monte-Carlo and Sweden.

Ogier, driving a Ford Fiesta in pursuit of his fifth consecutive world title, leads the championship after three of the 13 rounds by eight points from Jari-Matti Latvala.

Thierry Neuville finished third in a Hyundai i20 Coupe, 45.9sec behind Ogier, to bring relief for the Belgian after crashing out of the lead in the opening two rounds.

Neuville also won the final live TV Power Stage to claim five bonus points. Ogier took four points for second, while Ott Tänak secured three. Latvala and Dani Sordo took two and one point respectively.