This playing at being a journalist lark is a bit like hard work, Mr Yu seems to be relishing being Editor and hounding us for copy… fortunately I have some news!

I've driven other Elises on track before, but always with an instructor beside me to rein me in. I decided that after 2 years of managing not to have any more crashes, I could trust myself with my own Elise on track.

Donington proved to be the perfect venue on a freezing cold Saturday in March with Bookatrack. There was some serious machinery in the paddock, and the Elise looked almost out of place as GT40s and other exotica were fussed over and fitted with different wheels, or pushed out of their trailers and noisily warmed-up.

I always get that nervous frisson of excitement before a trackday as I watch the paddock fill up and the briefing take place, nonchalantly eying up my fellow trackday warriors trying to work out who will be quick, who will be dangerous and who will have 'all the gear and no idea'.

I needn't have worried, as the driving behaviour was very good all day. And I needn't have worried about the Elise either, because she acquitted herself perfectly on track. Yes, there's understeer if you're clumsy on turn-in but the car is so communicative through the wheel and the seat that it if you have half a clue then it pretty much teaches you to work with it, find the right line and rewards you hugely when you do. Isn't that what it's all about?

Having spun the first Elise I ever drove (at Silverstone) and having had 'the incident' in my own first Elise (see previous journal entry) I was pretty cautious to start with. But persistent exploration seemed to suggest it really wasn't as snappy as I'd feared when it came to lift-off oversteer.

Turning into McLeans in the meat of 3rd gear at about 70, loading up the chassis and feathering the throttle at the apex produced some beautifully clean oversteer which was easily caught with half a turn of opposite lock (and sometimes a little more - sorry to any passengers I scared!). It's not benign in the traditional front-engined rear-drive sense, but the word is still fitting considering the short wheelbase and rearward weight distribution.

My favourite section was exiting the Craner Curves at 100mph, searing across the kerbs of the Old Hairpin and Schwantz Curve and having a play through McLeans and Coppice. Donington really suits the car's chassis and its engine, the Toyota motor singing away in the heart of the 6k-8.5k rpm powerband most of the time.

The state of my rear tyres had been a bit of concern in the weeks before the trackday, as the weather had been perpetually wet and with only 2.5mm of tread left, I wasn't looking forward to a wet or even damp track. Fortunately it stayed dry all day and the tyres held up really well.

I had them changed for direct replacement, Lotus 'DCK' spec, Bridgestone RE040s and had done about 1,000 miles on them before the next trackday at Ty Croes on Anglesey on 1st May.

The car felt completely different on the new tyres, with the tail feeling extremely lively. Too lively in fact, for turn-in was so startling I was provoking it into oversteer just by turning in aggressively - great fun though and a few spins resulted as I overstepped the mark, fortunately without hitting anything.

However, the tyres were looking pretty scuffed after just a few laps of the 1-mile circuit, so I had to curb my enthusiasm as I was driving home on them (and didn't really want to shell out another £225 for 2 new tyres - I expect Lamborghini and Ferrari owners will scoff at such minor expense though!). The car performed faultlessly all day, but the engine and gearing wasn't all that suited to the tight and twisty Anglesey track, being out of the powerband for certain stretches.

After giving passenger rides all day, I finally got the car and the track to myself in the final hour. The car was a whole lot livelier without any passengers and my final stint, alone in the car and on an empty track under clear blue skies, sun glinting off the Irish Sea, Snowdonia on the horizon, was just superb.

Roll on the next track outing, although I need to get it serviced before then. It will also be out of warranty soon, and there are a few items that need attention. That ought to keep Mr Yu at bay…

Photos: Bookatrack and Phil Abbott.

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