Martin Dugard aims to turn the clock back at Arlington Stadium on Sunday.

The former Eastbourne Eagles' captain, who quit the sport at the end of last season, will be making an emotional return to the scene of some of his finest performances.

He will be climbing aboard a speedway bike for the last time when he rides in the Championship of Sussex, the feature event of the big Easter show which is being billed as the Martin Dugard Farewell Meeting.

Among his rivals will be current Eagles Mark Loram, Joe Screen, Dean Barker and David Norris, plus England skipper Chris Louis and the king of the indoor track, Phil Hurry.

Dugard isn't ruling himself out of contention, even though he has ridden no more than ten laps during a 15-minute practice session since last October. He said: "I'm not writing off my chances. The main problem I will have is that I will be riding a bike I have never ridden before and it might take me a couple of races to sort everything out."

Dugard, who sold his bikes and equipment when he retired, will be using a machine loaned to him for the meeting by Barker.

His off-track employers, Dugard Machine Tools, and the speedway club have got together to put up a brand new £1,400 Jawa engine for the championship winner.

"It won't be any use to me if I win it, so I'll put the names of all the other riders in a hat and draw one out."

Eastbourne team boss Jon Cook says Sunday will signal the end of an era for the Sussex club.

"Martin has been the mainstay of the team for the last nine years, but now there is a new order at the club with Mark Loram and Joe Screen forming a twin spearhead, and Bob Dugard and myself handing over the reins to a new promoter in Terry Russell.

"It would be impossible to put into words what Martin has done for Eastbourne speedway. His contribution has been immense and I hope there will be a bumper turnout to honour one of the greatest riders in the history of the club."

The last time Arlington staged a Championship of Sussex was in 1999 during the club's 70th anniversary year.

Dugard was on track to win the title for the third time after victories in 1991 and 1993.

He was the only unbeaten rider at the halfway stage when the meeting was rained off.

If he is going to get into the shake-up this time, he will have to overcome plenty of hot opposition, especially the quartet of in-form Eagles who will be on parade.

It might have been even tougher, but Stefan Andersson will be en route to Sweden and Toni Svab will be in Germany. Riders like Billy Hamill and Leigh Adams, who Dugard invited to ride, will be heading for the start of the Polish League season.

Dugard said: "It's the best possible line-up I could get for the meeting, and I'm sure everyone will be up for it. It should be a great day for the fans because we have also got a second half programme featuring a round of the quad bike classic championship."

Louis will be in action at Arlington for the first time since he suffered serious injuries in a crash in Poland last year, while the line-up also includes former world long-track and grass-track champion Kelvin Tatum, ex-Eagle Joonas Kylmakorpi and three riders, Brian Andersen, Steve Johnston and Mark Lemon, from Elite League champions Oxford.

All the riders will have four races in a 12-heat format, with the top eight qualifying for the semi-finals and then the first two in each race going into a Grand Prix-style winner takes all final.