DOUBLE POWER, HALF WEIGHT

Although the delicately proportioned styling has been industrialised to an extent by a regulation roll-cage, the MX-5 GT features a raft of clever parts exchanges to reduce weight. Its doors are composite, windows polycarbonate and even the body was dipped in acid; the resulting chemical reaction eating away an additional 15kg.

In racing trim, the GT weighs only 850kg, an impressive 245kg less than its series production sibling.

Powering the lightweight MX-5 GT is a heavily modified (though still naturally aspirated) version of its two-litre, four-cylinder engine, driving the rear wheels via a six-speed sequential transmission.

With peak power of 200kW on call, the MX-5 GT should weigh a neat one ton, fuelled and with a driver on board. Performance, unsurprisingly, promises to be epic.