Team Feeding Performance Husqvarna/ZipTY Racing Canada Plans Off-Road Assault

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I’m sure you’ve noticed a resurgence of Husqvarna motorcycles over the last few years. Any company that has been in business since 1903 has gone through some heavy changes, and Husky is no exception. Originally made in Sweden, Husqvarna had a long history of building championship-winning motorcycles, racking up a massive string of 70 FIM Motocross and Enduro titles. They were also a somewhat contradictory company, being the last motocross manufacturer to switch from dual-shocks to single shock and from air to water-cooling, but at the same time the first to release production three-speed automatic transmissions in the ‘70s and ‘new school’ racing four strokes in the early ‘80s. In 1987 production moved from Sweden to Italy under the Cagiva group. Innovation soared and racing success accelerated under the Italians, but the already small Husqvarna dealer network in North America continued to stutter. Then in 2007 Husqvarna was taken over by the massive BMW group, ushering in another wave of race success, innovation and quality improvements.  

That brings us to today. In case you hadn’t noticed, Canadian off-road races on the East Coast saw a good number of Huskys in 2009, predominantly their wicked 125s and bulletproof 250 two-strokes. They sold for a good price, had top-notch components and were easy to service. Besides, everyone saw how fast the factory Husky riders from Europe went at the Canadian World Enduro Championship rounds in ’06 and ’07. Win on Sunday, sell on Monday…sort of. Realizing the biggest thing holding Husky back was the limited number of dealerships and ongoing concerns over parts and service, Barrett Marketing Group is now helping the company revitalize its public image in Canada.

 

Did you know the famous Husqvarna logo is in fact modelled after a gun sight? Taking aim on the U.S market, Ty Davis’ ZipTY racing took on Husky with a slew of fast off-road riders, including Canadian Cory Graffunder. Up here in the Great White North, Feeding Performance, with help from ZipTY and Husqvarna, has secured another two of the fastest and most respected off-road racers in Canada, Alberta’s Marty Halmazna and Quebec’s Guy Giroux, to spearhead a new team. Point, shoot…bulls eye! 

Halmazna, a four-time Canadian Cross Country Champion, is also an ISDE medallist with a great record at Extreme races like Erzberg, Last Man Standing and Hells Gate. Giroux has something like 246,000 FMSQ Cross Country titles, three years of top-ten finishes in the CMRC Motocross Nationals and has qualified for over a dozen main-events at the Montreal Supercross. In 2009 he scored a podium finish at the Montreal Endurocross and took fourth overall in the Royal Distributing Canadian Enduro Championships. Needless to say, two of the best riders Canada has ever produced will race the 2010 Parts Canada Canadian Enduro Championships and a pile of regional events on Husqvarnas in 2010.  

I talked to Giroux, Halmazna and Feeding Performance Husqvarna/ZipTy Canada Team Manager Marc Coffin about the new team and their goals for 2010. I’ll let them talk from here on in.

Guy Giroux will not only attack the FMSQ and CEC series on a Husqvarna, he will be in charge of Marketing and Sales in Quebec. DMX Marty snapped this shot of the new Husky brass at the Toronto motorcycle show.

Giroux:

I was still working with BMW on getting a ‘real’ factory 450X from Europe, but while Norm from BMW Canada was in Europe I heard that Barrett was for sure getting Husky. I called to find out if it was true, then I called Norm back and he kind of pushed me in the Husqvarna direction at the same time. Everything just worked out perfect! 

I’m in charge of Marketing and Sales for Quebec. We are starting from scratch with our dealer network. In Quebec we are looking at three or four dealers that will be under my wing for the first year. Our big job is to show everyone what the Huskys can do. ZipTY is going to help the race team, and we will be getting technical support from them and from the factory Husqvarna team in France. I am in talks with a few other riders in Canada to see what kind of support they are getting and to see if I can bring them over to our team to race the CEC series. My own goals are to get that number one plate back in the FMSQ series for sure, and for the CEC I hope to finish on the podium every weekend. We’ll see which bike I chose to race once we start testing.

Marty Halmazna will spearhead the Western arm of the new team's pincer attack on the CEC series.

Marty Halmazna:

I owe everything to Marc Coffin, who is the manager of FP Racing Husqvarna/ZipTY Canada. When he heard Barrett was bringing in Husqvarna all the stars lined up. To promote the new products the best thing to do was to come out with both guns blazing and show the public that these are bikes that can win.  

I’m looking forward to getting some testing done as soon as I can. In the last two years I’ve been doing more and more motocross, and I love the fact that I can chase down guys like Julian Cerny and Ryan Pickford. I’m kind of the opposite of most riders, going from off-road to motocross, but I’ve got the motocross bug now and use it for fun and cardio training, plus it helps me stay aggressive. I’m a bigger guy and I can handle the power and size of the bigger bikes. Rumour has it that Bobby Prochnau will be racing a KTM 530 in the E3 class at the CEC this season, and you know what? I’m gonna’ chase him down! There is only one guy to beat in Canada right now, and that’s Bobby.  

I’ll be racing the CEC series and definitely Erzberg. I’ve also had offers to race some GNCCs down in the ‘States, and since their season starts early I’d like to get down there to do some bike testing. I am so honoured that someone like Ty Davis came on board. Their experience will save us years of R&D work, so I’m really looking forward to exploiting the ZipTY resource! Husky wants to attack KTM, and somebody should because they have ruled the off-road market forever. Barrett is no stranger to the motorcycle business, and Marc Coffin absolutely has a passion for this sport in Canada. I know he will be working countless hours promoting our race team and our sponsors.

Marc Coffin:

I grew up in New Brunswick but moved out West and was lucky enough to meet the right guys. I rode and trained with most of the Western crew from Alberta and B.C. Guys like Marty Halmazna and Shane Cuthbertson and Jared Thomas were pushing me. I’ve always had a passion for helping Canadian riders get to big events like Erzberg and other Extreme stuff over the years. So when I found out that Josh Barrett was going to get Husqvarna I let him know right away I would like to do a race team. I’m not a Husqvarna rep or salesman. I’m just enthusiastic about the product and really keen on the sport, especially the Canadian Enduro Championship. When the Husqvarna thing came up I basically said to Josh, “Get me some bikes and I will get you some riders!” Now that the ink is dry on the contract between Barrett and Husqvarna ZipTY is taking on a core part of our program, and Rekluse and Ogio stepped in right out of the gate. There’s still work for me to do, definitely sponsors we need to line up, but now that the base program is dialled in we can work with the rest of our sponsors and really offer them something solid.  

My first goal as a Team Manager is to accomplish something that is sustainable and allows riders to spread their wings at the CEC series, and secondly move on to international events like the Big Five Extreme. We’ve already seen how well Canadian riders like Cory Graffunder and Bobby Prochnau have done at the Endurocross series in the U.S. It really started with Marty Halmazna going to Erzberg and finishing that first time, then going back and doing it again and then going to Last Man Standing and running up front. It was a wake up call, like, “Hey, maybe Canadians can succeed at this level.” Now you see guys like Cory finishing fifth at Erzberg and Shane Cuthbertson backing it up with top tens at Romania…we had a freight train of Canadians at the Last Man Standing!

I know how hard it is to get there. I’ve been in the van scraping up spare change to buy a sub, or standing in the mud screaming my guts out cheering on Canadian riders. They have helped us realize we not only can get to these events but we can succeed! What motivates me is to see our guy’s names way up in the results with that Canadian flag beside them! The whole Feeding Performance thing is all about passion for the sport. It’s a non-profit operation, trying to get our guys set so all they have to worry about is training and riding and racing and winning! FP Started in 2007 as a last minute attempt to help Marty return to Erzberg for his second time. Since then I have provided some very modest support to Guy Giroux, Shane Cuthbertson, Cory Graffunder, Jared Thomas, the CGRT Ice Racing Team of Nick Riewe and Jay McGregor and of course Marty Halmazna. You’ve seen the FP logo pop at Erzberg 07, 08 & 09, FIM World Enduro Canadian & USA rounds in 2007, Last Man Standing in Texas, Red Bull Romaniacs in ‘08 & ’09, Hell's Gate in Italy, the Alberta Endurance Ice Racing Championship, the CEC Series and the Montreal Endurocross.

 

The factory Husqvarna team in France will also help provide tech support for the new Canadian team.  

On a personal level for me it’s all about off-road. I’ve done some motocross, and it’s no secret that most off-road racers are decent motocross riders. But the reverse isn’t always true. Lots of motocrossers just don’t relate to the off-road crowd for whatever reason, or when they attempt an off-road race they get a rude awakening. Of course there are some motocrossers that adapt and do very well, but a lot of them want nothing to do with the evil that is extreme off-road. I’m a motocross and supercross junkie and I follow it intensely, but our team, for now, is an absolutely off-road program. Does that mean we couldn’t be involved in motocross at some point? No, but we are focused on being successful at off-road racing right now and if we branch into motocross it won’t be until it can get my full attention.

I think it is important people support the CEC series, and I want to contribute any way I can. One of my absolute goals is to someday see a CEC round on the East Coast. It would be awesome to see a CEC series with events going from BC all the way to New Brunswick. The terrain we run here is gnarly, and with the right preparation there is no doubt we could host a national calibre event down here. With Husqvarna and the whole ZipTY thing we have the potential not only as a team but as a sport to step it up a notch. We are in very good shape to see some really cool things happen off-road in Canada in the next few years. There is so much racing history with Husqvarna in Canada and it is exciting to be associated with the rebirth of this brand! Husqvarna has huge potential in Canada…we just have to see where it goes!

Ok, it's time for Dan the lowly journalist to take over this story again. That's the inside scoop on the new Canadian Husky team and their distribution plans, at least for the time being. Husky is putting together a dream team and Coffin hinted to me that two more big names would be added to the team shortly. It'll be great to see Husky back on the gas again in the Canadian woods, because to me the sheer variety of machines is one of the many things that makes enduro racing so interesting. Unlike the pits of motocross nationals, at a CEC race you see riders aboard everything from Aprilia to Yamaha. The 2010 Parts Canada Canadian Enduro Championship is shaping up to be not only an exciting racing series but a marketing battleground the likes of which hasn't been seen since the 1970s. Hang on, because 2010 is gonna' be a wild ride!

Dan