The rally started in the Auvergne region of France, passing through Morocco, Western Sahara, Mauritania and Mali, and finishing Dakar in Senegal.

Notes: The competitors included former world rally champion Colin McRae.

[3] Peterhansel received a five minutes penalty after his team-mate pushed his car when it encountered gearbox trouble 300m from the finishing line of the fifth stage but retained his overall lead.

[8] Stages 10 and 11 were cancelled owing to concerns over the security situation in Mali.

[10] The 14th, 15th and 16th stages were won by Luc Alphand, Hiroshi Masuoka and Jutta Kleinschmidt.