A quote from a Capt. John Allison, demonstratimng the P-40 for the R.A.F. England, 1941:
"He had a Hurricane. Fortunatly it was one of the eight gunned Hurricanes, which were about equal with the P-40. I not only held my own against this British ace (I think he had 21 victories) I was able to get on his tail and he was quite surprised. But I was fighting where he was at a disadvantage at 3000 feet. We fought at this altitude so the group below could see. The P-40 was a low altitude airplane. The Hurricane was a high altitude airplane to get the German bombers, so it did not perform well at low altitudes. At a higher altitude I'm sure he would have taken me easily. He landed and came up to me and said, "I Thought all you Yanks were just mouth," Then he added, "You did very well."
I Think that the P-40 suffered by being one of the first American fighters to meet the Japanese, at a time when the correct way to fight them was not widely known. Chennault knew....and the Tigers did well in it!

Yet another example of knowing your machine and having the proper training and motivation. A similar thing can be said said about the Fins and their Buffalos.