WITH the 40th anniversary of the Wyedean Stages just around the corner, "The King of the Dean", Graham Elsmore, is set to return to the event he won in 1975, 76 and 77.

He even beat the late great Roger Clark in '76 – 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 going on to drive factory cars for Ford, British Leyland and Vauxhall.

Elsmore will drive a brand new Historic-spec Escort RS1800 which has been built by Rob Smith's RSR rally preparation company,and owned by Rob Weir, who is loaning Elsmore his car for the event.

Elsmore will be co-driven by his long standing navigator Stuart Harrold, from Ross on Wye.

Their last outing on the Wyedean was in 2008, when they won the historic event in an RS1800 hired from his old rival Terry Brown.

"Its an absolute honour to drive Rob Weir's car, I really can't thank the man enough," said Elsmore.

Rob Weir said: "When Paul Willetts came to me with the idea of getting Graham and Stuart out on the 40th Wyedean, it sowed the seed.

"Graham put the Wyedean Stages and Forest of Dean on the map 40 years ago, so I hope there'll be thousands of people out watching, cheering him on."

Forest of Dean Motor Club spokesman Paul Willetts said: "It's fantastic news for the rally, we couldn't have had the 40th anniversary event without Graham and Stuart.

"It is a fantastic gesture from Rob Weir for making this happen. Rob, his wife Ged and son Ross are not only our event sponsors, but great supporters of what we do as a motor club."

The Weir Engineering Wyedean Forest Rally takes place on February 14th 2015.