Anything else?

Of course - the list of engineering excellence goes on. The carbonfibre engine cradle and passenger cell comprise 1000 layers, each one lovingly cut and laid into the mould by hand in a five-day process. The springs and dampers of the wishbone suspension are mounted inboard, the wheels are made from a forged alloy that’s a third lighter than magnesium, and that rear spoiler creates precisely 400kg of downforce at maximum speed, split exactly one third over the front and two thirds over the rear. 'But this is technology to bring us forward rather than tech for technology’s sake,’ Hölscher points out.

Talk me through the cabin

Like the exterior, the cabin is equally bereft of frippery. There’s your standard set of five dials and a thing-rimmed three-spoker wheel, with climate, sat-nav and audio controls mounted on the thin floating centre console, dominated by the narrow gate for the gear lever. And that high-mounted wooden gearknob – filets of varnished beechwood – tips its Le Mans hat to the balsa-topped gearlever on the all-conquering 917 racecar, although then it was used more to avoid the heat transfer from the transmission than any significant weight-saving exercise. The seating position is low and the floor-hinged pedals are perfectly placed. Forward visibility is excellent which is just as well as the leather buckets lack real adjustment. Rear visibility is pretty poor, not helped by the 70mph-activated spoiler that literally cuts rear visibility in half, and the handbrake mounted down by the left-hand sill is difficult to operate.

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