Using torsion tests and applying the 'back extrapolation' method in isothermal conditions, recrystallisation-precipitation-time-temperature (RPTT) diagrams have been determined for a microalloyed steel with 0.35%C, 0.033%V, and 121 ppm N. The RPTT diagrams provide abundant information about the recrystallisation-precipitation interaction. Data such as the minimum incubation time for precipitates and the corresponding recrystallised fraction, the temperature for the minimum incubation time, and the time necessary for recrystallisation to be completed are deduced from the RPTT diagrams. The present study is completed with the determination of the activation energy for recrystallisation before and after precipitation, arriving at a new concept of the phenomenon that establishes discontinuous variation both in the derived function t0.5 against the inverse of the temperature and in the function itself, where t0.5 is the time corresponding to a 50% recrystallised volume fraction. © 1999 IoM Communications Ltd.