Latest news with #BenCollins
Forbes
2 days ago
- Automotive
- Forbes
Ex-Stig Ben Collins Returns To Top Gear Track In 700HP Praga Bohema Supercar
Ben Collins is more than familiar with the old Top Gear test track at Dunsfold The former Top Gear Stig, Ben Collins, has set the fastest production pure combustion road car lap at the Dunsfold Test Track in the Praga Bohema supercar. Collins set a remarkable time of 1:09:84, narrowly missing the Aston Martin Valkyrie's time of 1:09.70. With a dry curb weight of just 2,300 lbs (1,000kg) paired with a 3.8-liter V6 twin-turbo engine producing 700 bhp and 725Nm of torque, the Bohema is an impressive feat of engineering. In July, Collins will be involved in the handover for three customer cars at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. Ben Collins, ex-Stig and Praga test driver said: 'Setting such a fast time at Dunsfold on regular road tyres was such a thrill. I knew the Bohema would be fast, but Dunsfold's tight turns and short straights are not ideal for a car that lives and breathes downforce. It shows how potent the mix of lightweight engineering, great aerodynamics, and pure combustion can be – even up against hybrid hypercars from established brands with more than 1,000 bhp. The owners taking delivery of their Bohema at Goodwood are in for the time of their lives as their new cars take to the Hill!' From all angles the Bohema is an incredible piece of art Praga is a Czech manufacturer that has been building vehicles for nearly 120 years. The world of supercars is a new area for the business but the Bohema's performance speaks for itself. Collins' lap time was completed on a set of road tires and he even drove to the circuit in the Bohema ahead of the track session. Collins said: 'We probably only did half a dozen hot laps in the time available, but with VBox timing I could see my purple sectors were looking good – if I had put together the perfect lap, we would have been at the top of the list. But, the fastest ever pure-petrol road car at the first attempt is a pretty good result too. I look forward to showing the crowds at Goodwood just what the car is capable of.' The fastest lap time at Dunsfold is held by a Renault R24 at 0:59:00 While the Bohema is road legal, it's designed to excel on the track with its racing-focused suspension and carbon ceramic brakes. The supercar can achieve 62mph from a standstill in under three seconds and produces 1,984lbs (900kg) of downforce at 155mph. Although it doesn't achieve the fastest top speed for a car of this class, the Bohema will still take your breath away when it tops out at 197mph. Tomas Kasparek, Praga Cars Owner said: 'I was delighted to see the time Bohema achieved at Dunsfold. It confirms the top level of performance capabilities of the car and it underlines its potential. More than the impressive number on the stopwatch, this highlights the incredible effort made by the whole team – and, of course, Ben's super driving skills. I'm extremely proud.' Ben Collins getting ready to take on Dunsfold Following the delivery of the first production model to a customer in the Netherlands in December, Praga will take three customer cars to the Goodwood Festival of Speed this summer. The handovers will see the first US owner take delivery of their new car and include an opportunity for the three new recipients to ride up the iconic Goodwood hill climb. Kasparek added: 'The Goodwood Festival of Speed is the best place in the world to hand over our Bohema supercars to our new clients. We've enjoyed working with our customers this spring, especially Herman van der Pavert, the owner of the first Bohema production car. As a new brand in the supercar market, every one of our customers is hugely important to us so, as we share the journey with them, we seek out ways to demonstrate our appreciation. I hope they enjoy going up the hill with Ben and that all the fans enjoy the spectacle with us.'
Motor 1
3 days ago
- Automotive
- Motor 1
This Unknown Supercar Just Broke a Top Gear Lap Record
The Praga Bohema is a Czech-made supercar that debuted early last year. You may or may not have heard of it . Either way, deliveries began late last year, and now one example has lapped the Top Gear Test Track in the United Kingdom faster than any pure combustion car before it. The supercar uses a twin-turbocharged 3.8-liter V-6 engine sourced from the Nissan GT-R and modified by Praga with bespoke turbos, a dry sump, and a titanium exhaust system. It makes 700 horsepower and 535 pound-feet of torque, pairing with a six-speed sequential gearbox. Photo by: Praga The car can hit 62 miles per hour in less than three seconds and reach a top speed of 197 miles per hour. All that power allowed the car to lap the track in 1 minute, 9.8 seconds. The Praga almost beat the Aston Martin Valkyrie's lap time of 1 minute, 9.7 seconds, and the Aston is a 1,140-horsepower hybrid. What the Bohema lacks in power, it compensates for in lightness and aerodynamics. The car weighs less than 2,300 pounds and can create up to 1,984 pounds of downforce at 155 miles per hour. Photo by: Praga Likely helping Praga get the best time out of the Bohema was the driver, Ben Collins , the former Stig from the Top Gear show, who's now a Praga test driver. He drove the car to the track on road tires and completed the lap without any modifications to the supercar. According to Praga, he simply donned his race suit, warmed up the tires, and attacked the track. Praga has already allowed customers to drive the Bohema, and it'll deliver three more cars to customers at this year's Goodwood Festival of Speed , including the first US owner. Praga, a company founded in 1907, plans to build just 89 examples of the supercar. Check Out Other Top Gear Track Runs: The Fan Car Shatters Top Gear Track Record Ariel Atom 4R Laps the Top Gear Test Track Quicker Than the Old V-8 Get the best news, reviews, columns, and more delivered straight to your inbox, daily. back Sign up For more information, read our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use . Sources: Praga , DriveTribe / YouTube Share this Story Facebook X LinkedIn Flipboard Reddit WhatsApp E-Mail Got a tip for us? Email: tips@ Join the conversation ( )
Irish Times
07-05-2025
- Politics
- Irish Times
Unionists must ask themselves: ‘is this as good as it gets?'
I come from a unionist background in Northern Ireland . Nevertheless, I believe in Irish unity, but I welcome the recent efforts by those who believe that Northern Ireland should stay as part of the United Kingdom . Like many others I want to hear the views of those who believe that Northern Ireland is better off as it is, and that its people should not contemplate joining with the rest of the island of Ireland, even if I disagree. Open debate is a sign of a healthy democracy, and we need more of it, not less. Debate now will mean that when the unity referendums happen – and I believe that is when, not if – everyone will be better able to make an informed decision. For some, Irish unity may be wrapped up in images of 'the fourth green field', or such like. For me, however, the key issue is deciding on what will offer the best quality of life for everyone who lives across this island. READ MORE Every metric measuring living standards today – life expectancy, waiting lists for surgery, education standards and job prospects – shows that the South today outperforms the North. [ Kneecap and Boris Johnson have a lot in common Opens in new window ] Belfast writer and communications expert, Ben Collins For those who want Northern Ireland to stay part of the UK, I would ask is this as good as it gets? Are we living in Nirvana now or do you envisage that things will improve? If you think that things will improve, how is that going to happen? Northern Ireland is a small region within the United Kingdom. Everyone knows this, but some accept it more than others. But it is a significant part, a very significant part, of the island of Ireland. In a world where the all-island economy grows, the place that is now Northern Ireland can be a vitally-necessary part of that engine with the chance of being part of one of Europe's fastest growing economies. In a such a world, the quality of life of everyone across the island will be better. Every problem that we face will become no less problematic, but they can be better tackled together, not apart. [ How to fix the Northern Ireland economy Opens in new window ] The uniting of the island of Ireland must, first, be about creating peace and prosperity, not merely about history, posterity, or some echoes of the past. That for me is the Irish Unity Dividend. But we must prepare, for the referendum and for the new State to come afterwards, one where public services would have to be integrated, along with the island's infrastructure and economy. This is not about assimilation, capture, or takeover. it is about building a world-class nation where everyone has an equal stake, where everyone can thrive, especially the Border counties most damaged by Partition a century ago. Operating two of anything is more expensive, less efficient. Even people who are not economists, or know anything about economics know that. Partition has cost us all, and there is kinder, gentler form of partition. Sovereignty is not a flag on a pole, it's a roof over people's heads and food on the table. If unification is the will of the people on both parts of the island, I believe that Stormont should continue to exist, but for a finite period of time. Afterwards, the new State would have one parliament, in Dublin. However, immediate integration would be needed in some cases. Some issues, notably public health, would have to be dealt with on an all-island basis from the off to ensure that lives are saved. During the Covid-19 pandemic, Stormont followed the British Government lead, which left the two parts of the island, confusingly, with different rules at different times, but facing the same threat. Climate change and the spread of zoonotic diseases means that pandemics in the future are more likely, not less. Contradictory actions on the two parts of the island serve no one, and must not happen. With divided control, Stormont ministers could follow the approach of London, or somewhere else while the rest of Ireland runs to different rules. That makes no sense. Equally, immigration also be clearly better dealt together, from the off. For too long we have heard critics of Irish unity say that talking about Irish unity is a bad thing, that merely mentioning an aspiration for a United Ireland is antagonistic or provocative. However, the possibility of a Border poll when merited by circumstances was a key part of the Good Friday Agreement. Nobody should fear debate about an option that was part of an international agreement nearly thirty years ago. Brexit is an example, and a warning. We have seen what happens when people vote for a vague idea of constitutional change, as happened then. Nearly a decade later, people still argue about what the vote meant. Some argue that reconciliation must happen within Northern Ireland before a referendum is held. And, yes, we do not have a reconciled society, but Partition is and has been the source of that division. The Irish Border was created by the British government, dividing the island into two states, causing friction and barriers ever since. Before it, the counties making up Northern Ireland were the most economically advanced part. No longer. Like most UK regions, Northern Ireland has suffered, London and the Southeast of England has gained, and they continue to gain. In addition to London, I have been fortunate to live and work in Edinburgh, Cardiff, and Dublin in my career, before returning to my home city of Belfast. In each of those three capitals, the indigenous language is embraced. Unfortunately, it is seen as a source of division by some within Northern Ireland. I want to live in a country where diversity is celebrated and cherished. Culture should be something that can be appreciated by all, not a source of division. When unionists politicians state that they want to 'Make Northern Ireland Work' does that mean with, or without embracing the indigenous language or Irish culture? Does it mean with, or without building Casement Park? I understand that this is an unsettling time for unionism, especially because I come from that background. Brexit has not turned out well for unionism and unionists feel let down by the British government. The beauty of the Belfast Agreement before Brexit was that you could be Irish, British, European, or all three. Ireland and the UK were part of the EU, so borders were of little consequence. Brexit changed all that. Today, there are competing visions of the future – but the choice at one level is this: whether to stick in a UK with an uncertain future, or become part of a united Ireland that is firmly part of the European Union. Such a debate must happen respectfully. Believing in the benefits of Irish unity is not being anti-British. How one expresses that, however, might be. And everyone needs to remember that. This is not a debate that can be endlessly postponed. Life in Northern Ireland is changing. People's views are changing. Even Brexit has changed Northern Ireland. That is not a coincidence. Northern Ireland was created to guarantee a permanent Protestant and unionist majority. Today, it has neither. It has a nationalist First Minister. Sinn Féin is the largest party in Stormont. Westminster has more nationalist MPs than unionists. Sinn Féin is now the largest party in local government across Northern Ireland. Unionism holds a minority of seats in Westminster, in Stormont and across local councils in Northern Ireland. I fundamentally disagree with those who say there was no alternative to violence. Terrible things were done, terrible things were suffered. Irish unity will be achieved through purely democratic means, not through violence. One of the many benefits of a United Ireland is that unionist votes and voices will matter much more in an all-Ireland Dáil and Seanad, than they do in Westminster. The time for a referendum is fast approaching, perhaps in the next decade. The very populists who forced a Brexit vote in 2016 and who provoked the economic decline and division that has so troubled the UK since may now be the people to gain from that disorder. Just look at t the Runcorn by-election in recent days. A Westminster government led by such people will be actively hostile to the EU, will seek to undermine Ireland and will resent financially supporting Northern Ireland. The momentum for Irish unity may not just come from Ireland. Unionists must be sure they will be shown respect in a new Ireland, that they will enjoy a higher quality of life, but, most importantly, that they enjoy the same rights and status as others. I am certain that this can happen, should unionists choose to accept it. Ben Collins is the author of two books with Luath Press: The Irish Unity Dividend, which will be published in September and Irish Unity: Time To Prepare
WIRED
22-04-2025
- Entertainment
- WIRED
4chan Is Dead. Its Toxic Legacy Is Everywhere
Apr 22, 2025 10:40 AM It's likely that there will never be a site like 4chan again. But everything now—from X and YouTube to global politics—seems to carry its toxic legacy. Photo-Illustration:My earliest memory of 4chan was sitting up late at night, typing its URL into my browser, and scrolling through a thread of LOL cat memes, which were brand new at the time. Back then a photoshop of a cat saying "I can haz cheezburger" or an image of an owl saying, "ORLY?" was, without question, the funniest thing my 14-year-old brain had ever laid eyes on. So much so, I woke my dad up from laughing too hard and had to tell him that I was scrolling through pictures of cats at 2 in the morning. Later, I would become intimately familiar with the site's much more nefarious tendencies. It's strange to look back at 4chan, apparently wiped off the internet entirely last week by hackers from a rival message board, and think about how many different websites it was over its more than two decades online. What began as a hub for internet culture and an anonymous waystation for the internet's anarchic true believers devolved over the years into a fan club for mass shooters, the central node of Gamergate, and the beating heart of far-right facism around the world. A virus that infected every facet of our lives, from the slang we use to the politicians we vote for. But the site itself had been frozen in amber since the Bush administration. It is likely that there will never be a site like 4chan again—which is, likely, a very good thing. But it had also essentially already succeeded at its core project: chewing up the world and spitting it back out in its own image. Everything—from X, to Facebook, to YouTube—now sort of feels like 4chan. Which makes you wonder why it even needed to still exist. "The novelty of a website devoted to shock and gore, and the rebelliousness inherent in it, dies when your opinions become the official policy of the world's five or so richest people and the government of the United States," The Onion CEO and former extremism reporter Ben Collins tells Wired . "Like any ostensibly nihilist cultural phenomenon, it inherently dies if that phenomenon itself becomes The Man." My first experience with the more toxic side of the site came several years after my LOL cat all-nighter, when I was in college. I was a big Tumblr user—all my friends were on there—and for about a year or so, our corner of the platform felt like an extension of the house parties we would throw. That cozy vibe came crashing down for me when I got doxxed the summer going into my senior year. Someone made a "hate blog" for me—one of the first times I felt the dark presence of an anonymous stranger's digital ire, and posted my phone number on 4chan. They played a prank that was popular on the site at the time, writing in a thread that if you called my phone number was for a GameStop store that had a copy of the ultra-rare video game Battletoads . I received no less than 250 phone calls over the next 48 hours asking if I had a copy of the game. Many of the 4chan users that called me mid- Battletoad attack left messages. I listened to all of them. A pattern quickly emerged: young men, clearly nervous to even leave a message, trying to harass a stranger for, seemingly, the hell of it. Those voice mails have never left me in the 15 years I've spent covering 4chan as a journalist. I had a front row seat to the way those timid men morphed into the violent, seething underbelly of the internet. The throbbing engine of reactionary hatred that resented everything and everyone simply because resentment was the only language its users knew how to speak. I traveled the world in the 2010s, tracing 4chan's impact on global democracy. I followed it to France, Germany, Japan, and Brazil, as 4chan's users became increasingly convinced that they could take over the planet through racist memes, far-right populism, and cyberbullying. And, in a way, they did. But the ubiquity of 4chan culture ended up being an oddly Pyrrhic victory for the site itself. Collins, like me, closely followed 4chan's rise in the 2010s from internet backwater to unofficial propaganda organ of the Trump administration. As he sees it, once Elon Musk bought Twitter in 2022, there was really no point to 4chan anymore. Why hide behind anonymity if a billionaire lets you post the same kind of extremist content under your real name, and even pays you for it? "[4chan's] user base just moved into a bigger ballpark and started immediately impacting American life and policy," Collins says. "Twitter became 4chan, then the 4chanified Twitter became the United States government. Its usefulness as an ammo dump in the culture war was diminished when they were saying things you would now hear every day on Twitter then six months later out of the mouths of an administration official." But understanding how 4chan went from the home of cat memes to a true internet bogeyman requires an understanding of how the site actually worked. Its features were often overlooked amid all the conversations about the site's political influence, but I'd argue they were equally, if not more important. 4chan was founded by Christopher "Moot" Poole when he was just 15. A regular user on slightly less anarchic comedy site Something Awful, Poole created a spin-off site for a message board there called 'Anime Death Tentacle Rape Whorehouse.' Poole was a fan of the Japanese message board 2chan, or Futaba Channel, and wanted to give Western anime fans their own version, so he poorly translated the site's code, and promoted his new site, 4chan, to Something Awful's anime community. Several core features were ported over in the process. 4chan users were anonymous, threads weren't permanent and would time out or "404" after a period of inactivity, and there were dozens of sub-boards you could post to. That unique combination of ephemerality, anonymity, and organized chaos proved to be a potent mix, immediately creating a race-to-the-bottom gutter culture unlike anything else on the web. The dark endpoint of the techno-utopianism that built the internet. On 4chan you were no one and nothing you did mattered unless it was so shocking, so repulsive, so hateful that someone else noticed and decided to screenshot it before it disappeared into the digital ether. "The iconic memes that came out of 4chan are because people took the time to save it, you know? And the fact that nobody predicted, nobody could predict or control what was saved or what wasn't saved, I think, is really, really fascinating," Cates Holderness, Tumblr's former head of editorial, tells WIRED . Still 4chan was more complicated than it looked from the outside. The site was organized into dozens of smaller sections, everything from comics to cooking to video games to, of course, pornography. Holderness says she learned to make bread during the pandemic thanks to 4chan's cooking board. (Full disclosure: I introduced Holderness to 4chan way back in 2012.) "When I switched to sourdough, I got really good pointers," she says. Holderness calls 4chan the internet's "Wild West" and says its demise this month felt appropriate in a way. The chaos that defined 4chan, both the good and the very, very bad, has largely been paved over by corporate platforms and their algorithms now. Our feeds deliver us content, we don't have to hunt for it. We don't have to sit in front of a computer refreshing a page to find out if we're getting a new cat meme or a new manifesto. The humanness of that era of the web, now that 4chan is gone, is likely never coming back. And we'll eventually find out if that's a good thing or a bad thing. "The snippets that we have of what 4chan was—it's all skewed,' Holderness says. 'There is no record. There's no record that can ever encapsulate what 4chan was."
BBC News
07-02-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Super Bowl
Snoop revels in role as NFL awards host Ben Collins BBC Sport journalist in New Orleans Image source, Getty Images Snoop Dogg seemed to love his night hosting the NFL Honors award ceremony. It began as more like a roast as Snoop picked out some of the game's biggest names and made jokes at their expense. They enjoyed it at first but Joe Burrow and Sam Darnold looked awkward when Snoop poked fun at Cincinnati's defence and Darnold's former team, the New York Jets. And the rapper didn't even hold back on the two teams that will be contesting Super Bowl 59. Some claim NFL officials have been favouring the Kansas City Chiefs so Snoop said that Sunday's game will be an "incredible Super Bowl match-up between the Eagles... and the refs". He then turned on Philadelphia, saying that "the Chiefs have the chance to do a Super Bowl three-peat for the first time in history. The Eagles have the chance to be liked by the rest of America - also for the first time in history." The Pittsburgh fan then came back on to the stage wearing a full Steelers uniform and later did a skit with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell which could have been weird but, credit to 'the Comish', it actually ended up being really funny. Never mind music, perhaps Snoop now needs to give comedy a go.
