In torrid weather on track, however, the class of this little jewel of a supercar slayer shines through.
Verpraet is a touch dubious – “It’s like riding a tiger: very exciting but not particularly enjoyable” – yet everyone else seems sold. The featherweight, sequential-gearboxed, outrageously unfettered 4R can bite if you fail to anticipate the arrival of turbo boost, and care needs to be taken not to lock the brakes.
The driving controls, however, give you an innate confidence and you’re soon steering the car well and truly on the throttle. Might you have more fun in the regular 4? You might, but that’s splitting hairs.
3. Porsche 911 GT3 RS
This car’s secret, and it’s a good one, is its ability to allow you to slacken the dampers and relax the diff from the comfort of your figure-hugging seat to provide a level of dynamic control we know of in no other car.
Suddenly, this stiffly sprung downforce monster starts to ride acceptably well – at least as well as a stock GT3. On more street-friendly Goodyear rubber than the usual no-nonsense Michelin covers, a first taste is nothing like as wild as you might imagine. Not even slightly scary when properly configured it bodes well for its prospects over the next couple of days. And that’s putting it mildly.
On track, the 911 GT3 RS shows poise, precision and confidence-inspiring drivability in conditions somewhat outside of its comfort zone. As much is in evidence when back into the drivers’ briefing room stormed a breathless Frankel: “Makes a gen-two 991 GT3 RS look incompetent in these conditions.”
Quite a statement, that, but understandably it goes unchallenged. On a day like today, the GT3 RS is nowhere near its potential but still finds grip where you don’t expect it to and moves with the exquisite precision we’ve come to expect from Porsche’s GT-badged cars.
Cold semi-slick tyres mean direction changes require some initial patience, rather than being ripped into with abandon, but it’s crackers how much full-throttle activity the Beast of Weissach will tolerate.