Overview
- Nasser Al-Attiyah finished second for Dacia, 40 seconds behind Guillaume de Mevius after 305 km around Yanbu.
- Privateer Martin Prokop took third, while Mattias Ekström, who led from roughly 70 km, slipped to fourth after the final dunes and a 10-second speeding penalty.
- Defending champion Yazeed Al-Rajhi incurred 16 minutes of penalties for a missed waypoint and speeding, leaving him nearly 29 minutes off the lead.
- Ford placed five cars inside the top 10 as Toyota’s factory trio came home 16th, 17th and 18th to open the rally.
- On two wheels, Ross Branch was quickest on the special but a six-minute speeding penalty handed the stage lead to Edgar Canet over Daniel Sanders, with Ricky Brabec third overall.