split – All about car

Tom Ingram, Colin Turkington and Rory Butcher split the race wins in the Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship’s visit to Snetterton, with a one-off tyre rule helping to spice up the racing. For the first time, drivers were required to run all three of the BTCC’s Dunlop tyre compounds in the three races at the Norfolk track. The difference in pace between the three compounds led to plenty of overtaking, particularly in the final race. Ingram started the opening race from pole position after topping qualifying in his works-backed Speedworks Toyota Corolla by 0.002s from works Honda Civic Type-R driver Dan Cammish. Despite an early push from Cammish, Ingram pulled clear for a comfortable victory, his second of the year. Sam Tordoff finished third in his Civic Type-R, completing a podium lock-out for drivers running the soft tyre. Works BMW UK driver Colin Turkington was the top driver on the medium tyre in fourth, extending his championship lead over his fifth-place WSR team-mate Andrew Jordan. The BMW 3 Series of Turkington and Jordan both ran the soft tyre for the second race. They quickly moved into second and third, putting intense pressure on leader Ingram, who was hampered by success ballast. Turkington finally made his move on lap seven, pushing Ingram wide – blocking Jordan’s path in the progress. That allowed Cammish to jump up to second, with Ingram sliding down the order. His day worsened when he picked up a technical problem, dropping out of the points. Turkington’s win was the tenth for the new 3 Series this season, with Jordan recovering to third ahead of Ollie Jackson (Ford Focus RS). The third race was full of drama. Chris Smiley (Civic Type R) started from pole, but was soon overhauled by former champions Jason Plato (Vauxhall Astra) and Ash Sutton (Subaru Levorg). They staged an intense battle, while further back the Civic Type-Rs of Butcher and Josh Cook used their soft tyres to charge up the order from 12th and 15th on the grid. The battle for the lead culminated with Sutton, Plato and Butcher heading down the back straight side-by-side, with the inevitable contact at the next corner dropping the first two down the order and leaving Butcher clear for his second win of 2019. Cook finished second ahead of Smiley, Rob Collard (Vauxhall Astra) and Plato. Turkington finished tenth, and now leads Jordan by 36 points in the title race. Butcher is third, 22 points further back. The next round is the second visit of the year to Thruxton on August
Origin: BTCC 2019: Ingram, Turkington and Butcher split Snetterton wins

The recent burst of publicity around the mandatory introduction of speed limiters on new cars from 2022 has certainly brought them to the attention of car buyers. But how will they be received? Are they seen as a brilliant safety initiative that will save lives or an Orwellian intrusion adding to the danger of our roads by taking control away from the driver? Market research firm Simpson Carpenter questioned more than 1000 car buyers on behalf of Autocar to find out. Supporters of speed limiters outnumber opponents by two to one: 49% are in favour of speed limiters, while 24% are opposed. But those with strong feelings on an issue are always the most vocal and here the gap is much narrower – 18% are strongly in favour while 12% are strongly opposed. Support for speed limiters is strongest among women and those intending to buy a hybrid or electric car next time. The most strongly opposed are those whose car has an engine size of 2.0 litres or bigger. Among this group, there are as many opponents as supporters (39% in each camp) and opponents are nearly twice as likely to feel strongly about the issue as supporters. Reasons given spontaneously for favouring speed limiters focus on the expected improvement in road safety and the reduction in the number of people speeding. Among supporters, those intending to buy a hybrid or electric car next time round are much more likely to point to road safety and reducing accidents as the reasons for their support. Older drivers are more likely to cite the reduction in the numbers speeding. Questioned in more detail, a strong majority of car buyers agree that reducing speeds will be good for the environment and will save thousands of lives each year. Nevertheless, there are major reservations: more than half think that drivers are better than technology at deciding on the right speed. Nearly half (47%) think speed limiters are a major intrusion into personal liberty and 41% believe they’ll cause more accidents than they prevent. What is remarkable is the stark difference in opinion between those in favour and those opposed to speed limiters, particularly in relation to their safety benefits and their intrusiveness. Nine in 10 of those in favour believe speed limiters will save thousands of lives each year. In contrast, more than eight in 10 of those opposed believe speed limiters will cause more accidents than they prevent. Almost nine in 10 opponents see them as a major intrusion into personal liberty, with as many as six in 10 feeling very strongly about their intrusiveness. The bad news for the industry is that many new car buyers plan to take avoiding action. Half of those against speed limiters say they will delay their next purchase so they can keep on driving without restriction and a further 30% say they will buy used rather than new. Even among those in favour of speed limiters in principle, nearly one in four will seek to avoid them. The good news is that one in four of those who support speed limiters say they would now be more likely to buy a new car. However, the net effect looks like being another drag on new car
Origin: Analysis: why the public is split on speed limiters