MXP Chatter: KTM’s Florian Burguet

Florian Burguet is a huge Canadian Motocross fan. He also happens to be the VP of Marketing at KTM North America and the person who pulls the strings at KTM Canada.  The passion Florian has for racing is evident in almost everything he does and this industry in Canada is very lucky to have him. We caught up with Florian recently to talk about his new job, as well as what his plans are for the holidays.

Q: Greetings Florian, where are you today, Montreal, California or Europe?

A: Actually I am in Montreal at the KTM Canada office just doing some work. The holiday season is always a special time for me and being at the Canadian HQ for KTM is essential for me to close the fiscal year in a proper manner.

Q: It seems like you are always travelling. It must be nice this time of year to take a little of time and relax.

A: Yes for sure, a little relax time is good, but I believe that when you love what you do you don‘t need too much time off. I like being busy, it keeps me sharp and focused.

Q: With your job you must visit a lot of cities in North America and overseas. Is Montreal your favourite?

A: Good question. I love Montreal and it definitely feels like home to me so I do love this city, but to go one step further, Canada is my favourite country by far and I enjoy all the cities here and what each one has to offer. I am also enjoying the new city that I live in, which is Temecula, California. It’s a beautiful place.

Q:  Were you born in Canada?

A: Actually no, I was born in West Africa in Ivory Coast. We lived there and also in Dakar for the first 10 years or so of my life. It was during that time that my passion for motorcycling began to grow. You know, the famous Paris to Dakar rally always ended where I lived so I was introduced to motorcycles at a very young age. From there we moved to France and then I moved to Canada to continue my studies in Marketing.

Q: So you really are a man of the World.

A: I guess so (laughs). I love to travel and see news places. That is one of the aspects of this job that I enjoy; I am always travelling and meeting new people.

Q: Let’s talk about your job. You recently got a new position with KTM and you had to move once again.

A: Yes, I am now the VP of Marketing for KTM North America and I am based out of our office in California. I found a house in Temecula and I am in the process of moving to the USA full time. I really like it down there. As you know that area is the heart of motocross and with the office being only five minutes from my house, it is a perfect location. As far as the job goes, it is a great position to have right now with a company like KTM. The brand is growing and our marketing strategies reflect that growth. It is a very exciting time for KTM and I am extremely happy to be a part of it.

 

Q: Your new job and location sound perfect for you. Will you still be looking after things in Canada?

A: Yes, for sure! I am still the General Manager of KTM Canada so I will continue to be heavily involved. I am very happy with this arrangement as Canada is where it all started for me and I want to see KTM in Canada reach its full potential. We have a very good thing going here with the race team and I want to see them win two championships in 2013. Colton and Dusty are going to be ready, and with the addition of Kaven Benoit to the factory team, it should be a very good year.

Q: Speaking of the race team, were you happy with how things went in 2012.

A: Yes and no. We definitely made huge strides and made our presence bigger and more professional at the races, but we fell short of our ultimate goal and that was to win championships. We thought we had all the pieces to do that but we had a little bad luck, and also our competitors came into the series very well prepared.

Q: Is the team making some changes so they start the series better prepared? For instance, will Colton, Dusty and Kaven be doing more racing before the first round of the Nationals?

A: We are currently looking at that because I feel like that is where Goerke had his advantage in 2012. He came in race ready and got off to a quick start. Having said that there is a fine line between racing beforehand and being prepared to racing and getting injured, then it’s even more of an uphill battle. Let’s face it, in today’s racing it is really hard to make it through an entire Supercross Series without getting injured, so it doesn’t make sense for our guys to race too many races before the Canadian series begins. I think we will do a few more races before round one and that will help us a lot.

Q: Colton and Dusty will also have the advantage of racing the new KTM 450 in 2013.

A: We are very excited about this, as are Colton and Dusty. They love the new bike and the changes that have been made to it. Here is an interesting story: the time that the new 2013 KTM 450 was developed and tested to the time that it went into production was very short. This meant that a lot of testing was being done on this bike during the Supercross season in 2012. When it came time to figure out which bike Colton and Dusty were going to race last year, we received a little advice from Roger DeCoster and together we decided that it would be better to go with the older model. The bike was good and as you remember, Mike Alessi had a lot of success on it in 2011.

Obviously KTM is a company that learns very fast and is quick to make changes from year to year, so everything that we have learned has gone into this brand new bike and we are very excited about it. I think now with the addition of this bike, KTM now has a model that can win a championship in every class and that is what we are looking for in 2013 and beyond.

Q: It sounds as though KTM is heading towards a very successful year not only in Canada but in racing all over the World.

A: We hope so very much.

 

Q: One last question and I’ll let you go to enjoy the holidays. You are into cycling in a big way, the area you are living in now in California is great for cycling, do you have your road bike down there yet?

A: Yes, I have been doing a lot of riding with everyone down there but it has been tough.  When I left Montreal to go to California I thought I was in pretty good shape on the bike, but the riders down there are incredible. I am definitely going to try and improve my skills in 2013 so I can keep up.

Q: Alright Florian, Happy Holidays from all of us and we hope 2013 is a successful one for you and KTM.

A: Thank you and all the best to you guys and everyone in Canada.