Even a 476hp 911 won’t drop the CBR1000RR under hard acceleration. » More Photos

On his first attempt, bike ace Tim Dickson had what we'll refer to here as a technical issue, specifically in relation to Turn Seven. Suffice it to say that we needed a new Honda. Thank heavens, then, for former TWO editor Bertie Simmonds, who happened to have a CBR1000RR on loan from Honda, and lives just 15 minutes from Rockingham. Simmonds saved the day. On his second set of laps, Dickson flew.

Having watched Goodwin on the bike previously, it was obvious Tim was using more revs and throwing the bike with more commitment into and out of the corners. If you've never seen someone ride a quick bike properly, it's one heck of a spectacle. Through longer, quicker corners, the true ace will crank the thing so far over you swear the whole outfit, biker and bike, is simply going to let go.

So long as there's enough heat in the tires, though, it's amazing how hard a bike will hang on. Which means on the straight bits it disappears out of sight. Unless you drive a new 911 Turbo…

In the end it was desperately, eerily close. But when we downloaded the data after Tim's best lap, the numbers said it all. The lap time was 1min 22.0sec – just one single second slower than the Porsche.

And when Goodwin subsequently climbed aboard the 911 and set a time of 1min 27sec – five seconds slower than Tim's best time on the bike – the reality of how fast a well-ridden superbike is sunk in. Most drivers wouldn't even get anywhere near Goodwin in the 911. Which means you'd be blown into the undergrowth by a superstar on a CBR1000RR. Worth remembering the next time a bike appears in your rear-view mirror and you think: no problem, I'll lose him in the corners…
Steve Sutcliffe/Autocar

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