Of course great news for the sport is the news that Husqvarna will have a factory team in the Grand Prix series in 2014. Of course KTM are now the leaders in the FIM World Motocross Championships and while their dream is not to replace KTM with Husqvarna as the leader in the sport, but what they do want is to have Husqvarna as a top brand in the sport.We spoke to Pit Beirer about the reintroduction of Husqvarna into the Grand Prix series.
Q: Pit, can you tell me more about the plans for Husqvarna in the FIM World Motocross Championships in 2014?
Beirer: Husqvarna is a top brand with a lot of history. If you look back in history Husqvarna is important for the sport, it was founded around 1900, so it is one of the top brands that founded Motocross. We have a clear strategy for the brand in the FIM World Motocross Championships.
Q: How advanced are you with the new bikes for 2014?
Beirer: We have great plans and I have seen drawings of the new bikes and of course what is most interesting is we plan to create a factory team for next season. The details are not yet known, but for sure you will see Husqvarna at a high level in 2014.
Q: Can Husqvarna become similar to KTM as far as leading the sport?
Beirer: We have two different sizes of company, KTM have sold 100,000 bikes, while Husqvarna have to reach 20,000. Success to win a race you need one good rider on a machine, so if we do things at Husqvarna like we do at KTM then we will have success, I am sure of that. What is important is having the people who are really good at their job and we need to find these people, because we can’t use the same people who are at KTM, we cannot spread those people too thin, because they are busy with our KTM project.
Q: Obviously from experience KTM know that nothing will happen overnight, but you must be looking for success with the bikes or not?
Beirer: It will just be step by step, I am sure we will see some really nice things in the coming years. You know what we learnt from KTM experiences, you cannot just
By Geoff Meyer