are freshly calculated for each segment the boundary between the two types of calculation is at a predetermined engine speed of 1900 rpm for instance the engine control 2 contains a plurality of performance graphs of which only four are shown in this case a first or basic ignition performance graph 10 stores the ignition angles as a function of the engine speed and the engine load or throttle valve position a second ignition performance graph 11 stores corresponding ignition times for a reduced engine torque the reduction in engine torque can be performed by switching over from the ignition performance graph 10 to the ignition performance graph 11 or by calculation of ignition angles that are shifted toward 34 late 34 first and second further performance graphs 12 and 13 contain threshold values to be explained below for activating an anti bucking function or in other words for tripping the reduction in torque in fig2 the engine speed n upon vehicle acceleration and the segment time gradient tn grd derived from it as well as a lower threshold value su and an upper threshold value so are plotted over time t in order to activate the anti bucking function the following conditions must be met the coolant temperature must be above a predetermined value for instance above 300 u00b0 c the engine speed must be in a predetermined range for instance between 1000 and 3500 rpm the vehicle speed must be within a predetermined range for instance below 50 km h no diagnostic errors must have been detected for the crankshaft camshaft ignition and injection the anti bucking function is activated through a performance graph switchover.