[2] The event was based at Sankt Wendel in the countryside surrounding the Bostalsee in Saarland, and consisted of eighteen special stages totalling 325.76 km (202.42 mi) in competitive kilometres.

[6] Thierry Neuville and Nicolas Gilsoul entered the round with a twenty-one-point lead in the World Championship for Drivers and Co-drivers.

Defending world champion Sébastien Ogier finished in seventh, ahead of Andreas Mikkelsen and Craig Breen by 0.1 and 0.2 second respectively.

Dani Sordo completed the day in sixth, only one-tenth of a second ahead of Esapekka Lappi, who failed to come to terms with dirt dragged onto the roads by the early starters.

Craig Breen lost some time due to being caught in a heavy rain shower in the early stage in the eighth place, followed by Andreas Mikkelsen, who was struggling with his i20's handling and chose to change his driving style, in ninth, only one second behind.

Lacking of power caused Mads Østberg to fail to find the pace like Finland, which made him cleared the day off the leaderboard in eleventh overall.

First in the early stage, Elfyn Evans retired his Ford Fiesta from the day after sliding into a field, damaging the left front wheel in the process.

[10] Although defending world champion Sébastien Ogier won the Power Stage, the outcome of fourth place finish still failed to narrow the gap to championship leader Thierry Neuville — it is up to twenty-three points after the event.

Teammate Teemu Suninen completed the rally with a fifth-place finish after a consistent weekend, followed by Andreas Mikkelsen in sixth.