World champion Mark Loram goes for indoor speedway glory at the Brighton Centre on Sunday.

Loram, the only British rider to win the sport's Grand Prix title, is the big draw card on the annual dirt track spectacular which will again be watched by a 5,000-plus crowd.

If the Poole star is to be crowned king of the indoor circuit, however, he will have to get past Eastbourne ace Paul Hurry.

Hurry has won the Brighton Bonanza championship twice in three years and finished runner-up on the other occasion.

There is no doubt the fans will be queueing up in the hope of seeing a head-to-head clash between Loram and Hurry, but they are not the only big guns involved.

The 18-strong international line-up also includes Eastbourne skipper Martin Dugard, who was second last year and third the time before, and American Brent Werner, who won in 1998 and was second the previous year.

Ticket sales have already topped previous years for what promoter Jon Cook describes as "the premier event of its kind in the world".

There will be 42 races split between afternoon and evening sessions, with nine teams, including riders from the USA, Poland, Finland and Sweden, racing first in a pairs competition and the riders then battling it out for the individual title.

Hurry has proved the master of the mini-track since the Bonanza was first staged in 1997 and, but for an amazing incident two years ago, would have won all three titles.

He was leading in the final when he clipped the fence on the back straight, and the title went to Werner.

The England international, who was part of Eastbourne's Elite League-winning outfit this year, has also won indoor events at Telford and Spain.

Loram knows his way around, however, and will be a major threat. Last year, he won the pairs contest with Craig Boyce and finished fourth in the individual championship.

Dugard and Werner apart, another likely contender is Eagle David Norris, while Newport youngster Chris Neath could be a shock merchant.

Neath caused a sensation last year when he did not even figure in the programme but was brought in as a reserve for two races and won both of them, including defeating both Hurry and Werner.

An army of volunteers will work through tomorrow night to lay the track with 120 tons of shale brought in especially to provide an authentic dirt track surface.

So successful has the event proved that the organisers will be staging another meeting at the Bournemouth International Centre in January, but Cook insisted: "The Brighton event will remain the jewel in the crown."

Racing starts at 3.0 and 7.30, and doors open at midday with trade stands.

BONANZA LINE-UP: Andrew Appleton, Steve Bishop, Wayne Carter, Slawomir Drabik (Poland), Martin Dugard, Paul Hurry, Tomasz Jedrzejak (Poland), Petri Kokko (Finland), Mark Loram, Steve Masters, Shawn McConnell (USA), Chris Neath, David Norris, Bobby Schwartz (USA), Adam Skornicki (Poland), Neville Tatum, Brent Werner (USA), Magnus Zetterstrom (Sweden).

ROLL OF HONOUR: 1999: 1 Paul Hurry; 2 Martin Dugard; 3 Toni Svab; 4 Mark Loram. 1998: 1 Brent Werner; 2 Paul Hurry; 3 Martin Dugard; 4 Joe Screen. 1997: 1 Paul Hurry; 2 Brent Werner; 3 Greg Hancock; 4 Craig Boyce.