Its absolutely true that midengined and drifting can = bad.
While I have a boxster, and not an elise, the physics are similar. You get that car whipping around and the rear just wants to continue moving due to the weight being more towards the rear. Ok thats fine, and when you are in something like a rear engined carerra you can feel it let go, then just hit the power when you want it to stop. It grabs and you go, no big deal.
In a MID engined car we have another fun thing going on. Imagine an ice scater with his/her arms and legs out doing a spin. When the mass is spread over a good bit of distance, they spin slowly. Pull that mass in and they speed up bigtime. A midengined car has the same problem, when you start to spin it happens FAST FAST FAST. So rather than drifting, if you are not lightning quick you are facing oncoming traffic.
At VIR I was going onto the stevie wonder turn (over a hill off camber TOTALLY blind, hence the name) and everything in your body tells you "LIFT LIFT LIFT." Well I didn't do it all day, but I was getting a bit tired during my fourth session and I was pushing my car a bit harder than before, so I was going over the hill flat out and there was a car ahead of me going much slower.. so uh, I lifted. Within 1/4 second my brain screamed GASGASGAS, so I hammered it.
Did I spin? No, I hit the gas REAL quick. Took a few days for the bruises to heal from my seatbelt holding me from getting thrown around though. It was VIOLENT. Definitely not optimal. If I had waited any longer I am 100% certain I would have been off in the dirt somewhere facing an unknown direction.
(yet another reason to check your tire pressure after EACH and EVERY track session. Low pressure = tires ripped off your rims! Whatever you have heard about low pressures and racing your car should go out the window when it comes to reality and DOT legal tires!!! Racing tires reguire slightly lower pressures, but you should talk to the manufacturer about starting suggestions, then test to find out the pressure for you and a specific track)
Scot