New to the IRC Championship, a 9 km (5.6 mi) prologue was held on Tuesday evening to determine the starting order for Wednesday's stages.

Stages were run both during the day and at night and included the famous Col de Turini.

Entrants for the event included the current IRC Champion Kris Meeke who was seeded at number 1, Formula One driver Robert Kubica, WRC stars Mikko Hirvonen and Toni Gardemeister and Rally Scotland winner Guy Wilks.

A total of 63 crews entered the rally including nineteen S2000 cars.

Finn Mikko Hirvonen driving the Ford Fiesta in competition for the first time and making his debut in the IRC, led the event from start to finish.