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Man Drags Cat Behind Bike, Claims He Heard Voices

An Indonesian man tortured and dragged a cat behind a motorcycle.
The cat’s owner caught the act on video.
Police caught him later and he told them that he heard voices to kill the cat.

An Indonesian man was arrested for dragging a cat behind his motorcycle. He claims to have “head voices” telling him to torture the cat because it was evil.

Diefie Hafiez Maufalia was looking for her ginger-coloured cat, Mio, when she saw the horrific scene involving a familiar-looking cat. She was outraged at the act but was afraid to reprimand the man for fear of his reactions. So she whipped out her phone and shot the video of him dragging the cat behind his motorcycle.

“The passenger was the one who pulled the cat, but I wasn’t sure if the cat was still alive or not,” Diefie told Detik News (Indonesian media).

The 15-second video went viral and the police hunted down the perpetrator based on the motorcycle’s number plate.

They revealed an even more disturbing find after questioning.

The man had beaten the cat until it stopped moving before tying a rope around the poor animal’s neck and dragged him behind his accomplice’s motorcycle. He also claimed that he
“heard voices” telling him to carry out the macabre act.

Police sent him to the hospital afterwards to check on his mental state after he kept chaning his story during questioning.

Diefie said Mio has yet returned home.

MotoGP 2019: Red Bull KTM Factory Racing and Red Bull KTM Tech 3 Racing Launch

KTM has launched all their MotoGP, Moto2 and Moto3 teams for 2019.
There will be two teams in MotoGP, but both are using the same bikes.
They are Red Bull KTM Factory Racing and Red Bull KTM Tech 3 Racing.

KTM launched their MotoGP teams tonight. They are known as the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing and Red Bull KTM Tech 3 Racing teams, respectively.

The “all-in” event also included KTM teams, bikes and riders from Moto2 and Moto3 classes. Additionally, KTM is represented by two teams on factory machinery.

In one corner is the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing team, with Pol Espargaro and Johann Zarco as riders. This team’s KTM RC16 uses the traditional Red Bull KTM livery.

In the other corner is the Red Bull KTM Tech 3 Racing team, with our boy Hafizh Syahrin and Miguel Oliveira as riders. Their KTM RC16 are finished in a new orange, blue and silver livery. Hafizh promised during the special press conference and meet the fans session during the Sepang Winter Test, that the new livery will be replicated on a special edition KTM RC390 in Malaysia.

Both teams will contest on the factory KTM RC16, as the manufacturer is eager to collect twice the data in half the time in developing the bike. Although it still needs much development as Zarco said, Europe’s largest motorcycle maker could not shake their excitement.

After all, KTM’s morale and determination took a huge boost when Pol Espargaro put the bike on the podium for the first time last season in Valencia. Meanwhile, the retention of veteran KTM test rider Mika Kallio and signing of Dani Pedrosa as the new test rider will keep the program rolling at a high pace. Unfortunately, Pedrosa broke his collarbone and is out for three more months. However, KTM are allowed concessions for testing and development under MotoGP rules. Making full use of this leeway, KTM brought out several engines with different specs at Sepang.

The new bikes will hit the track from 20^thFebruary. Until then, let’s just enjoy the photos of the RC16 from both camps. All photos are from KTM and published in MotoGP.com.

MV Agusta F2 Moto2 Racer Unveiled

The MV Agusta F2 Moto2 race bike was unveiled yesterday.
It will use MV Agusta’s chassis with the Triumph Moto2 engine.
Riders are Stefano Manzi and Dominique Aegerter, after Romano Fenati was infamously dropped.

Forward Racing has unveiled the MV Agusta F2 Moto2 race bike.

It signifies the return of the Italian marque after a 42-year absence in GP racing. Forward Racing has a new title sponsor hence the change in colour scheme from black to red/white and the team being officially called MV Agusta Idea Lavoro Forward Racing.

The F2 features MV Agusta’s red-painted steel trellis frame mated to an aluminium swingarm. Suspension is supplied by Öhlins and the engine is the new Triumph 765cc triple.

Team riders Stefano Manzi and Dominique Aegerter unveiled the F2 alongside Giacomo Agostini’s MV Agusta 500cc 4-cylinder championship winning bike.

The team had first signed Romano Fenati to ride the bike this year. However, Fenati went to on to grab Manzi’s front brake lever at Misano after trading hard passes on track. He was immediately dropped from his old Moto2 team and banned for the entire season. MV Agusta CEO Giovanni Castiglioni followed up by declaring that he will not allow Fenati to ride his bikes.

The team will join other Moto2 contenders at the first pre-season tests at the Jerez Circuit in Spain from 20^thFebruary and the final test at Losail in Qatar from 1^stMarch. The 2019 MotoGP season kicks off on 10^thMarch.

850 Summonses Issued in 3 Hours at Two Locations

A total of 850 traffic summonses were issued by the Police and JPJ to motorcyclists at two different locations yesterday.
Offences include not using the motorcycle lane, riding without license, expired road tax, among others.
The number of offences is mind-bogging, to say the least.

Guthrie Corridor Highway

The Malaysian Traffic Police issued 232 summonses in just 3 hours to motorcyclists who did not use the motorcycle lane at Kilometre-2.5 of the Guthrie Corridor Highway. The news was reported by Kosmo! Online yesterday.

The Police sting was part of the Ops Selamat in conjunction with the Chinese New Year road safety campaign, which also involved the Road Transport Department (JPJ). While the number of motorcycle lane defaulters amounted to 232 summonses, a total of 375 were issued including other offences.

While the operations were conducted, there were several hardcore law breakers who turned back and rode against traffic flow to escape the roadblock. The Police resorted to chasing them down on their motorcycles.

One motorcyclist who rode 100 metres against traffic was chased down and found riding without a valid license.

Jalan Duta Toll Plaza

In a separate JPJ operation at the Jalan Duta Toll Plaza, a total of 475 summonses were issued while another 15 motorcycles were impounded from 9pm to 12 midnight. Offences range from not possessing valid license, not wearing a helmet, using non-regulation number plates and expired road tax.

850 summonses in the space of 3 hours each at two locations is an outrage! Where is this? Afghanistan? This is beyond alarming. What would other vehicle owners think of motorcyclists if this continues? And yet some motorcyclists are critical of how others drive.

While we do not like using the motorcycle lanes due to being shoddily designed and maintained, we still do use them when available. The need of doing so is due to both the law and safety from having to share space with larger vehicles.

Riding without valid license or road tax are offences because there is no insurance cover in case one gets into an accident. However, mishap or otherwise, the law is the law. Our roads will descend into utter chaos and anarchy if no one obeys traffic laws!

Source: Kosmo! Online. Please click on these links http://www.kosmo.com.my/negara/jpj-keluar-475-saman-dalam-operasi-motosikal-tahun-baru-cina-1.838686 and http://www.kosmo.com.my/negara/232-saman-tidak-gunakan-laluan-motosikal-dalam-tempoh-tiga-jam-1.838749 for the original photos.

Alpinestars Publishes Response to Dainese Case

Alpinestars published their response to the Munich Court of Appeals’ case.
The court sided with Dainese in their ruling.
Alpinestars maintains that they did not infringe on Dainese’s patents.

Alpinestars (A-Star) published their response to the recent German court decision with regards to a patent infringement case involving fellow Italian gear maker Dainese.

The decision by the Munich Court of Appeals will cause a huge effect to A-Stars’ Tech-Air airbag vests in the German market. In siding with Dainese, the court has issued an injunction against selling the product in the country. In addition to having their products pulled from the shelves, A-Stars also need to pay a huge sum in damages.

A-Stars is challenging Dainese’s charge that the they infringed on the latter’s patents. Judging from the wordings and language in the Press Release, the fight is not over. It’s going to be the Clash of Italian Titans.

The focal point of the contention is how the airbag vest is held in a garment.

Alpinestars’ Press Release

On February 7, 2019 the Higher Regional Court of Munich issued judgment upholding the claim that Alpinestars’ Tech-Air® vest infringes upon patent EP 2 412 257 B1 held by Dainese S.p.A.

Alpinestars wants to clarify that this action never involved the core of Alpinestars Tech-Air® technology; at no point, either past or present, has any action or patent infringement involved the electronic management, algorithm, or deployment mechanism, or any other part employed within Alpinestars entirely unique and advanced Tech-Air® technology.

Furthermore this judgment is limited to the territory of Germany only. It has no bearing on any other territories within Europe or the wider world market where Tech-Air® is available throughout Alpinestars’ Dealer network.

Originally Dainese alleged infringements based on three patents in Germany, none of them refer to Tech-Air® technology: one complaint was withdrawn by Dainese on 22nd December 2016, relating to patent EP 2 373 188, after this patent was revoked by the European Patent Office. The remaining two patents have been contested in Germany. The second, EP 2 373 190, concerning only some specific features of the air bladder used in the Tech-Air® vest, was wholly annulled by the German Federal Patent Court on 15 May 2018. Dainese appealed this decision.

The third, EP 2 412 257 B1, concerning the general installation of an inflatable air bladder construction within a ‘pocket’ of a garment, featuring elastic panels, is the point on which the patent infringement claim was upheld last week. As soon as the Court serves the written judgment, Alpinestars will study the details prior to taking any decision on its next steps.

Alpinestars needs to point out that it has an appeal pending on the validity of this patent (EP 2 412 257 B1) within the German Federal Court of Justice.

As consistently stated throughout this legal process, Alpinestars fully respects and honors third parties’ intellectual property rights and expects the same with respect to its own IP rights. Alpinestars’ highly innovative Tech-Air® products are based upon years of its in house research and development conducted by its own team of leading research and development staff.

Since the very beginning of the Tech-Air® project, which commenced in 2001, the freedom to ride with the most advanced innovations of performance protection has been the objective relentlessly pursued by Alpinestars and the result is uniquely advanced and capable technology. Tech-Air® is the world’s first airbag providing full upper torso protection in a transferable vest which incorporates a completely independent electronic management system, with no reliance on any external devices (sensors or GPS), to give accident detection and full airbag inflation before the first impact, dual charge for the track and off-road capability as demonstrated in the 2019 Dakar Rally.

Alpinestars’ Tech-Air® products represent an enormously innovative contribution to increased rider safety in motorcycling.

PETRONAS Sprinta Racing Team (SRT) Takes Over Pre-Season Testing

The PETRONAS Sprinta Racing Team for Moto2 and Moto3 are currently conducting private pre-season testing.
The tests are taking place at the team’s home track, Sepang International Circuit.
The tests are ahead of the first official Moto2 and Moto3 pre-season tests at Jerez.

PETRONAS Sprinta Racing Teams for Moto2 and Moto3 took to the Sepang International Circuit (SIC) in private pre-season tests starting 11^thFebruary. SIC is the team’s home track.

Team riders are Khairul Idham Pawi for the Moto2 class, and Ayumu Sasaki and John McPhee for the Moto3 category.

Their tests sessions followed in the footsteps of the third official MotoGP test which took place from 6^thto 8^thFebruary. The PETRONAS Yamaha Sepang Racing Team riders Franco Morbidelli and Fabio Quartararo put their Yamaha YZR-M1s through their paces for the upcoming season. The Yamaha factory later announced on 7^thFebruary that Quartararo will also ride the 2019 Yamaha YZR-M1 like his teammate Morbidelli’s and those of the factory Yamaha team.

Franco Morbidelli at Sepang Winter Test 2019 – Photo credit MotoGP.com

Khairul Idham Pawi #89 – Moto2

Khairul Idham Pawi and his crew continues their work on the new Kalex machine which is powered by the new Triumph three-cylinder engine. The tests will allow Pawi to familiarize himself further to the machine. He improved his pace as the day progressed.

Pawi testing new Moto2 bike – Photo credit PETRONAS Sprinta Racing Team

The tests focused on the new engine initially, before moving to chassis, geometry and suspension set-ups.

Ayumu Sasaki #71 and John McPhee #17 – Moto3

The Sasaki/McPhee pairing concentrated on obtaining the optimum motorcycle base settings on the new 2019 Honda. Work focused on learning the new engine, chassis, and chassis geometry.

McPhee testing new Moto3 bike – Photo credit PETRONAS Sprinta Racing Team

Both riders put in many laps to obtain the sizeable data required. Sasaki logged 51 laps while McPhee logged another 38.

Next Tests

Testing continues today and tomorrow. The two Moto2 and Moto3 teams will head to their official tests at Jerez, Spain beginning 20^thFebruary and Losail, Qatar from 1^stMarch. As for the MotoGP team, the final official pre-season test will begin from 23^rdFebruary. The 2019 MotoGP season kicks off in Qatar from 10^thMarch.