Martin Shaw and Ian Prout will contest the 2009 Roger Albert Clark Rally in Shaw's well-known Ford Escort Mk2, and Shaw says that the event is the closest rally to the original Lombard RAC Rally he tackled three times in the 1990s.

"The entry is in and the team is keen to do it again," said the Huddersfield-based driver, who tackled the Roger Albert Clark for the first time in 2008 in his 1400cc Escort Mk2. Partnered by Dave Evans, he finished fifth overall in the Open category and won his class by a substantial margin.

Now, Shaw and regular co-driver Prout are gearing up for the 2009 rally. "We committed to this year's event right at the start," said Shaw, who competed on the Lombard RAC Rally in 1994, 1995 and 1996 in a Lada. "The Roger Albert is the nearest you can get to that event. We marshalled on the earlier Roger Alberts and my service crew was really keen to do the event. Last year we got round with barely putting a spanner on the car."

For Prout, it will be a switch from reading route notes to working from maps. "He's got to learn how to do maps again," said Shaw.

They are hoping to contest the Trackrod Rally Yorkshire in late September as a final shakedown ahead of the November event.