Timmy Hansen clinched the title when World RX last visited Cape Town in 2019, and the Hansen World RX Team driver will be one of many aiming to close the gap on current series leader and defending champion Johan Kristoffersson this time.

All the World RX drivers will be competing this weekend in identical ZEROID X1 cars, ensuring a completely level playing field.

Six of the World RX drivers have already sampled the ZEROID X1 through guest outings in the FIA RX2e Championship during the summer.

Kristoffersson won the RX2e event at Mettet in Belgium and went unbeaten in Cape Town in 2017 and 2018. The Volkswagen Dealerteam BAUHAUS star arrives holding a 27 point advantage at the top of the standings, with his rivals firmly focussed on chasing him down – with a bumper haul of points up for grabs in the first double-header round of the campaign.

Just 12 points blanket the next six drivers.

CE Dealer Team’s Niclas Grönholm is Kristoffersson’s closest challenger – and the winner of the 2019 event in South Africa – while Kevin Hansen sits third for Hansen World RX Team, with the Swede’s driving style well-attuned to the characteristics of the ZEROID X1.

Kristoffersson and Grönholm’s respective team-mates Ole Christian Veiby and Klara Andersson are similarly well in the mix, although both will be discovering Killarney for the first time, while double DTM champion Timo Scheider is a former participant in the gruelling Cape Epic mountain ‘bike race. The German reached the final at Killarney in two of his three previous appearances and will be joined at Münnich Motorsport by Euro RX1 event winner René Münnich.

The action will begin at 09:00 local time Saturday (7 October), with every session to be broadcast live on the pioneering new Rally.TV platform.