Ford's once Mr Consistency has been consistently outside the winners' circle for what seems an eternity. Not since the 2000 season has he won a V8 Supercar race, and more than four years since tasting victory on the overall podium. For a driver who had been a permanent fixture on the podium for more than 15 years, it's a worrying trend.

He is a shadow of his former self: not since his second Touring Car title in 1997 (he won his first in '93) has Seton felt completely comfortable behind the wheel.

With its ancestry as the most successful Ford operation of the V8 era, Seton's franchise became, with much fanfare, Ford's flagship team in 1999.

But the Ford fans were duped. The neglected, under-funded Ford Tickford Racing operation is, and never was, a factory race team. In short, Ford Tickford Racing has been an unqualified failure.

In a final bid to haul himself out of the slump, Seton has gone back to basics. Gone is Steven Richards, and the second Falcon, with the team now focused squarely on the boss' car - a formula that worked so well in 1997.

He will cut a lonely figure on this year's grid, but the solitude could be his saviour. A third title is, perhaps, out of reach, but returning to the winners' circle is not. And as long as Mount Panorama remains unconquerable for Seton, he won't give in.