Pit Beirer has made a lot of miles between Europe and America in the last 12 months and his clear goal of winning with the KTM machine is not just a pipe dream. Just as KTM have done in Europe over the last four years they want to start with a solid base and eventually sign the best riders in the business. We caught up with Pit and asked him about the future of KTM in America.

MXlarge: Pit, let’s first go back 12 months or so and talk me through what KTM have been through?

Beirer: The whole Motorcycle Industry had a bad period and we faced big trouble, we had to reduce and resize the company, we have now 500 people less than we had in the highest moments, we had to reduce costs dramatically and it’s no secret we had a big loss of 80 million euro’s. However our boss still wanted to be involved in Motorcycle racing and he said to us he wants to show that we are still strong, and he believed in doing it the right way. He also gave the green light to develop a new motorbike (350cc) and all these things help us now.

MXLarge: KTM really turned it all around.

Beirer: When the economy improved we were in pole position because we had great success in motorsport, we also have a new bike in the pipeline. Tony won a World Championship on the 350 with 100 points ahead of the second guy, so all these things helps us in the market. Our last financial year brought us a 20 million profit, so we turned it around, the message is clear our company is strong again and we are ready to race again.

MXlarge: Some people were telling me that the American market is similar to the European market now, is that true?

Beirer: The American market is much worse than the European market. Europe had trouble, but some countries survived with little reduction. Australia for instance survived great with just two or three percent minus, but then you have the market like Spain which lost 60% and the market in America is less than half what it was. The American market had a big influence on all the companies involved in the sport. On the other side we used the same plan in America that we used in Europe, even in a difficult time we decide to keep our slogan alive “ready to race” and we know that we need to race strong there.

MXlarge: We have seen the signings in America over the last two months. It is clear that KTM at the start of something really special.

Beirer: We want to make big improvements in America and we are not happy with how things have gone for us there. Now with Roger De Coster and Ian Harrison leading the way in America we have a clear signal what our target is in America, we want to win races in America.

MXlarge: The performance by Tony on the 350cc machine must have been a positive step for KTM?

Beirer: Everybody told us we would have problems in Denver due to the high altitude and we were nervous before Saturday and we didn’t know how to set the bike up for that race. Everyone told us we need special exhausts and so many other changes to the bike. We came with the bike for Tony and he won the qualification race on the Saturday and everyone could see the bike was competitive in America. That made me very happy.

MXlarge: How is it possible that a 350cc can out drag a 450cc machine?

Beirer: We were surprised how fast that bike is in the starts, but the engine is so light and off the gate it is really good. He had a big holeshot at Glen Helen, which is a traditional long uphill start. All season in America Mike didn’t have very good starts, so we didn’t know what the problem was. Now we saw the 350 win the holeshot at the MXoN and that deleted many questions makes.