BEST OF A WILD BUNCH
So, a winner. It’s easy to love the Jannarelly – Jamie falls for its glorious sound – and of all the cars here, it’s the one I’d put in my lottery garage. But it’s not the one you’ll most want to keep lapping until it runs out of fuel; it’s not quite precise enough, doesn’t quite give you back what you put in, even if it does put a gigantic grin on your face as you work away at its wheel.
‘I didn’t feel I could push the limit in it – it’s more about enjoying the experience,’ Jamie says. ‘The rear is very progressive, so you can release the brake and it rotates into the corner, which is really nice. But on the downside, that means traction is… poor,’ she grins.
If a shortfall of grip holds the Jannarelly back, does that mean the cars at the more track-focused end of the scale, the Radical and McLaren, edge into the winner’s circle? Not for Jamie: ‘On this track the Radical was actually a little underwhelming, because it couldn’t maximise its potential. In any downforce car, you don’t really play around with the limit of the tyres’ grip, which, if your aim is having fun on a trackday, maybe isn’t ideal.’
The McLaren, on the other hand, is just so sorted it leaves the driver with less to do. ‘The first time you drive it you think, “Ah, this is fun,” because you’re up to speed straight away,’ Jamie explains. ‘But hit the brakes and you’ve got ABS, stamp on the throttle you’ve got ESC… You can’t really get anything wrong. So it’s confidence-inspiring, and I’d say it’s the best in terms of outright performance. But I think it’s also a bit… numb.’
I don’t drive an F3 car for my day job, so both the Rapture and 620R’s absolute precision and performance impress me more than they do Jamie, and I glean more excitement from both. But I think she’s right; for a purely recreational track car, perhaps something rawer is ultimately more rewarding.
Which leaves three cars: the Lotus, the Caterham and the Ariel. ‘I would have gone with the Exige as the winner but the lack of a locking diff really spoils it. It makes a massive difference. And it’s a little bit too physical to drive – I was having to work quite hard with that gearshift; after a full day on track, you don’t want to feel like your arm’s going to fall off.’
I agree; I loved the Lotus from the moment I first tested it, and I’m still captivated. But the traction issue really does hold it back.
Caterham or Atom? For Jamie, it’s the Caterham 420R: ‘Where the window to finding the limit in the McLaren is like this,’ she says, miming a small aperture, ‘in the Caterham it’s like this,’ expanding her hands like a fisherman describing the biggest catch of his career. ‘At any speed, on any type of track, and for sheer fun, it’s everything I want.’
I love the Seven wholeheartedly too but, on this track in this weather, the Atom is the car I most want to drive more. And even though Jamie plumps for the Seven, she’s impressed by the Atom: ‘You really feel the speed, more than the other cars here. And it’s quite playful, so it rotates well through the twisty stuff, even if it’s not so easy to play with in the high-speed corners.’
A challenging plaything, it’s our winner. For heart-in-mouth speed with hand-in-glove feedback, it’s our favourite road-legal track car.
‘You really feel the speed in the Atom, and it’s playful,’ grins Jamie