EASINGWOLD'S nine-time sidecar world champion Steve Webster is ready to attempt a Perfect Ten.

Webster's latest title was clinched in France this month with passenger Paul Woodhead but he is already thinking about taking that impressive record into double figures next season.

The York speed king is now 43 but has no plans to hang up his helmet and leathers yet.

On his return to North Yorkshire this week, he said: "I would like to get into double figures but because of my age I will have to get my skates on. I've always said that as soon as I feel I couldn't win or I started to worry about racing then I would stop but I'm still enjoying it at the moment and we have still got it in us to win races and Championships.

"As long as my body and my wife let's me, I will carry on for a few years."

For Webster, his latest title success - his first since 2000 - was also one of his most satisfying as it was almost exclusively made in York.

He was racing for his own Easingwold-based Team Castrol Suzuki and bounced back from a fourth-place finish in the 2002 Championship.

"Each World Championship has its own story and this one was all about the team effort from everybody," he said. "It was the first year in six that I have run my own team with the help of local companies.

"The people at North Moor Engineering in Easingwold took care of the engines and we are lucky to have those kind of people in our area to take on the world.

"We not only beat everybody on the track, we beat them technically as well. For the last six years I have ridden against foreign teams and I was employed as a rider, which eased the financial burden but decisions were made for me that I had to go along with.

"When you have your own team you make your own luck and how long you spend in the workshop also becomes important."

Webster and his mechanics were back in the workshop this week after returning from France via Switzerland, where he picked up a new sidecar for next season's competition.

That machine will now require a month of preparation work before Webster and Woodhead begin testing in Spain during December.

The World Championships then start in April but Webster will also be lending his support to a relaunched British Championships next year, which begins a month earlier.

Webster's ninth world title has now moved him two ahead of Rolf Biland in the all-time list but the Swiss ace, who retired from the sport in 1997, still holds one coveted record.

Biland, with 82, boasts 25 more individual victories than his North Yorkshire nemesis and it is that kind of target that keeps Webster focussed.

He said: "It would be nice to try to achieve all those statistics but the main thing now is to try to win the Championship again next year and reach double figures. That would be special because it would also be my third with Paul.

"Rolf is one of the all-time greats. You can see that just by looking at his record.

"To have started overtaking him in certain areas is quite humbling because he was a big part of sidecar racing for two decades."

Webster first competed in the World Championships in 1983 and four years later clinched a hat-trick of successive titles with passenger Tony Hewitt.

Another world crown followed in 1991 with Gavin Simmons before he repeated his treble haul between 1997 and 1999 with David James.

Woodhead was then his passenger for a record fourth successive championship in 2000 before their second success last weekend.

"It's almost like sitting in a car with two steering wheels," Webster said about the unique relationship between driver and passenger. "Paul, as well as being good on the track, also helps on the management and technical side.

"The passenger really needs to be very physically fit, which Paul is, and the driver needs the experience and knowledge to learn tracks quickly. If you go to a new track you have got to be able to learn it in three-and-a-half hour sessions.

The sport is also a lot faster now than when I started."

ROUND-BY-ROUND GUIDE TO STEVE WEBSTER'S NINTH WORLD SIDECAR TITLE

Valencia (Spain) - 1st, new lap record; Monza (Italy) - did not finish; Osehersleben (Germany) - 1st, new lap record; Silverstone (England) - 1st, new lap record; Mizano (Italy) - 3rd, new lap record; Brands Hatch (England) - 1st, fastest lap; Assen (Holland, two meetings) - 1st, 1st, new lap record; Imola (Italy) - 2nd; Magny Cours (France) - 5th.

Webster and passenger Paul Woodhead also qualified in pole position for all ten races.

Updated: 10:28 Saturday, October 25, 2003