"Now throw into that equation a Thruster microlight, an RV6, a TBM700 and a Cessna 152, all with vastly different performance.:
As a point of note as the phrase 'high performance' is frequently cropping up in the thread with reference to RVs. This is a general comment not connected directly with the incident. RVs can indeed climb and cruise at greater speeds than many certified machines.
But in the circuit they can sit quite happily at 'normal' circuit speeds. My 200hp RV-6 would cruise easily at 160+ KIAS. It's stall speeds were 47 KIAS full flap and 52 KIAS clean - pretty much the same as a C152 or Tomahawk.