WITH the 40th anniversary of the Wyedean Stages just around the corner, 'The King of the Dean', Graham Elsmore is set to return for the event he lit up with wins in 1975, 1976 and 1977. He even beat the late great Roger Clark in 1976, who two weeks later, trounced the strongest Scandanavian entry the RAC rally ever had, and cemented Elsmore's place as the brightest prospect British rallying had for many years.Elsmore will drive a brand new Historic Spec Escort RS1800 which as been built by Rob Smith's RSR rally preparation company, and owned by Rob Weir, who is loaning Elsmore his car for the event, which will be sponsored by Weir Engineering/Weir Laundry Equipment.

Rob Weir, who is still recovering from injuries sustained in a huge accident on last year's Woodpecker Stages will take on a team manager's role. Elsmore will be co-driven by his long standing navigator from Ross-on-Wye, Stuart Harrold. Their last outing at the Wyedean was back in 2008, when they won the historic event, in a RS1800 hired from his old rival Terry Brown.

Rob Weir's new car will be ready by mid-January. He said:?"Graham put both the Wyedean Stages and the Forest of Dean on the map 40 years ago, so I hope there will be thousands of people out watching and cheering him on.

The Weir Engineering Wyedean Forest Rally takes place on February 14th 2015. Read the full story in this week's Ross Gazette