"Everyone came back in, shiny eyed and exhilarated, raving about it."

Hoooooooly cheek flaps, only an Atom does that – boosts you down the road with such viciousness that you hit the limiter while your brain struggles to compute and your left hand tries to grab another gear.  You slot in the precise, mechanical gear lever when the boost is high and the response is instant and conclusive. So the Atom has lost none of tactility in the corners or violence on the straights, but it appears to have gained a maturity none of us were quite expecting.  Suspension that absorbs the bumps not pinging off them, and even more grip and more predictability when you breach those limits.  You ask it questions and wait for the answers, and that’s what makes the it so brilliant – driving one is a conversation and no two laps need to be the same. So well set up, so controllable up to and beyond the limit.