The event started in Lima, Peru on 6 January and finished there on 17 January after 10 stages of competition, making it the first Dakar Rally to be held in a single country.

[1] Qatari Nasser Al-Attiyah won his third Dakar in the Cars division for Toyota, in the process becoming the second person to win the Dakar Rally with three different vehicle manufacturers (other wins came with Volkswagen in 2011 and Mini in 2015).

[2] In the Bikes division, Toby Price of Australia won his second Dakar Rally despite suffering from a fractured wrist during the event.

[3] The Kamaz team of Eduard Nikolaev, Evgenii Iakovlev and Vladimir Rybakov won their third consecutive title in the Trucks division.

[4] This would mark the final time the Dakar Rally was held in South America.