Meeke retires after double puncture

Citroen's Kris Meeke has retired from day one of Rally de Espana after suffering a double puncture in the second test of the day.

Meeke, who was sixth fastest in the short Barcelona super special on Thursday evening, had been quickest in SS2, the 7 kilometre Gandesa 1 test. However he stopped around two thirds of the way through SS3, the 26.59 km Pesells 1 stage.

He was eventually able to complete it - albeit having lost almost 5 minutes, but was unable to go any further as he only had one spare tyre onboard.

"We went fastest on the first stage of the day. On the next stage, after three or four kilometres, I went off the line, ran wide and put a wheel off the road on a fifth-gear corner. I didn't think that I had lost any time, but I felt that the tyre was beginning to deflate. We therefore decided to stop to change the tyre," Meeke recounted.

"When we set off again, we were still in the dust kicked up by the other cars. The team asked us to park at the side of the road to let Mads [Ostberg - my team-mate] past.

"Towards the end of the stage, I realised that I'd also picked up a puncture at the front. As we only had one spare tyre, we couldn't continue."

Citroen later confirmed he will rejoin under Rally 2 on Saturday.