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Pit Beirer interview - No Team Orders

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Pit Beirer all smiles in 2011 - Ray Archer image

Interview Thursday 09th June 2011 By Geoff Meyer

KTM Sports manager Pit Beirer is very much a total fan of Motocross. While he might have the difficult decisions of hiring and firing riders his biggest enjoyment is watching a good Motocross race. With the MX2 class clearly in the hands of the Red Bull Teka KTM factory team at the moment the former World number two knows that it is important to have a good team spirit.
Thus give both his riders Ken Roczen and Jeffrey Herlings an equal chance of winning the 2011 FIM World MX2 Championship. We decided to sit down with Pit and ask him about his two young chargers and what he expects from the coming months.
MXlarge: Pit, can you tell me a little what you think of the Roczen versus Herlings battle up until now?
Beirer: Expectations were very high for Ken, but also for Jeffrey. Jeffrey had high hopes, but he had too much pressure in Bulgaria and when he knew that Ken was running away and he mentally collapsed, which was not necessary. It took some time with talks with Stefan to get him back on a fighting spirit, but then four GP’s later and he has won two GP’s and Ken has won two GP’s. Ken brought a lot of racing speed and sprint speed from his American racing, which made it difficult for everyone in the MX2 class, not just Jeffrey. On the other side you can see if Jeffrey puts the pressure on like he did in Brazil he can win races, for us it’s a tense situation, because we love these kids and we want them both to win, but that is kind of difficult, but it’s nice racing to watch them.
MXlarge: To many it seems like Jeffrey is closing the gap to Ken, what do you think?
Beirer: I think this battle goes on for a long time this season and the points gap is not big, it’s nothing in Motocross and you can see that Jeffrey is coming closer and closer, he is also 10 months younger than Ken and he is missing nearly a full GP season on Ken, and he is learning every week, it’s also a surprise for us when we see his progress. It’s going to be a good battle for a while yet.
MXlarge: I did an interview with Jeffrey around the time of Bulgaria and he mentioned that it was going to be hard to beat Ken and that he felt Ken was the Champion in waiting. Do you feel like he said that just to take the pressure off, like he didn’t really mean it?
Beirer: I think so yes, because I saw in Bulgaria how much he wanted to win and how disappointed he was when he didn’t win, inside himself he had the hope and the wish to beat Ken. But it’s difficult if you see Ken is coming back to Europe as an AMA Supercross winner and all the speed he has and the advertising and marketing going on around him in America, it makes him a superstar, but after Brazil and Valkenswaard Jeffrey realizes he can race with him, so again, and underlining the difficulty for us it we want to support both of them and both are going to have great careers, and maybe not their whole career in the same racing because Ken is going to America to race, but we try and keep the team spirit as high as possible.
MXlarge: These two kids seem so different. Can you describe them for us?
Beirer: I mean, Ken is really calculating more, preparing more and getting ready and Jeffrey he just takes it like it comes, but he wants it more than anyone in this paddock. At the end they are not so different, they are just 16 and 17 year old kids who want to race, they want to have a bike, they don’t care about food or how they get to the race, they just need a bike and they want to race and that is such a nice fresh atmosphere in the team for us. They are a little different, but both are young and crazy and they are also busy with the things around their riding.
MXlarge: As a Motocross fan we want to see riders banging bars and really having exciting race. For you as a fan, but also as a team member it makes it a double story doesn’t it?
Beirer: Of course, but as a team manager I could like to give them the team order to take first and second every weekend, and be happy and lets win the title for KTM, but you know Stefan and you know myself, we are Motocross fans and we want to see nice races and support them on their way. Their careers are just starting and we want to see nice racing and no team tactics.
 
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