As a Spit Pilot, The Yak is faster than I in level flight under 20K, but Yak pilots seem to be unsure of their planes' strength and I find if I ping them with the .303's even at max. range they'll usualy start to turn, and that's when I can catch them.
I'll catch them in the begining of a dive, they'll out pace me if the dive is prolonged, but ultimatly I'll catch them at the bottom, but I've a feeling thier high speed handling is a bit better than mine.
They seem to need to be very close to do any damage, and I'm rarely hit by a Yak snapshot, they really do have saddle up properly; so I find my self flying somewhat similar to a 190 when bounced, that's to say rolls and jinks with an aim to run their ammo dry rather than actualy turn tables. They usualy get impatient and make a mistake at that point.
If I can, I'll get the fight going uphill, and turning to the right. If I'm following a Yak uphill, and he starts turning left, I usualy break off with an out of plane manouver and re-engage.
Yak pilots (in general) generaly seem to fly as turners, I rarely see good E management, and I often find my self 2 or 3 K higher after an inconclusive engagement with the Yak running for the hills. At that point I follow but hold my alt, and quite often they get nervous about fuel and turn to re-engage at a disadvantage.
Hope that helps.