Steve is not the dead wood. He has shown some good pace, but mishaps always seem to come to him. Even with a car that was severely crippled by his father's former team team he was still keeping up with the lead drivers, even if he was 20 laps behind. The team should be commended for the outstanding work they did on the weekend to get Steve back in the top 10.
Warren is finally starting to show promise, too, after his Adelaide bingle.
Steve is the 4th best driver Ford has out there. He was the 3rd after Pukekohe.
There are 24 drivers behind him, drivers such as Glenn Seton (whom Steve would've beaten last year too if they hadn't had to drop the worst round score), Mark Skaife, & a host of other so-called "top" drivers. People say these drivers have proven themselves. The fact remains, though, that a time comes when you have to realise they may be "past" it. It's no good coming 1st, 2nd or 3rd oncve every so often & coming in the bottom 10 the rest of the time. You must be in the top 10 all the time. That's what the sponsors look at. Steve these year has been consistently hovering around the top 10, except when he's the innocent party in a bingle.