So one month in, what do we know about the Focus RS? Well, firstly and most importantly, we know that we love it. But I do have a few gripes, so I’m going to get them off my chest first. The seat is too high, I don’t think it needs all the toys it’s got (is a reversing camera really necessary?), the iPod interface isn’t a patch on the XF’s, and, most irritatingly of all, the throttle pedal is sited lower than the brake, making it difficult to heel and toe. Might see if we can do something about that.

On the driving front it’s superb. Not flawless, but hugely entertaining. Henry’s sharper, crisper R26.R is a thorn in its side dynamically, but what I adore about the road-wrestling RS is that it’s a hot hatch that has to be learnt; and the more time you spend with it the better it gets.

You have to adapt the way you drive to maximise its potential – be ham-fisted and it will torque-steer (quite violently on a wet, bumpy B-road), and the mid-corner magic only really happens when you get back on the power, so it pays to go in slow and power through. Then it’s uncanny, the diff hooking up, the traction astonishing – you can actually feel the suspension working the tyre. It’s absorbing and complex in a way no other hot hatch is, and that makes it pretty darn special.