The young Spaniard Edgar Canet, who claimed the Rally2 title last season, followed up his prologue win in Yanbu with another barnstorming performance in his debut at the top level. The KTM rider bagged stage 1 and tightened his grip on the overall lead.
- Ross Branch was the fastest competitor in the 305 km special, but a 6-minute penalty for speeding cost him victory.
- The stage podium is a carbon copy of yesterday's, but featuring wider margins. Edgar Canet defeated the last two winners of the Dakar, putting 1′02″ into his Red Bull KTM Factory Racing teammate Daniel Sanders and 1′32″ into their Monster Energy Honda HRC rival Ricky Brabec.
- The Rally2 special saw the prolific Michael Docherty claim his eleventh win in the class on his KTM, beating the rookie Martim Ventura and his Honda, who had spent most of the stage in the lead but came up short in the final dash to the line, by 1′28″.