Asetek Racing CEO Interview

André Eriksen- Asetek Racing CEO

We had the opportunity to interview André Eriksen, founder of Asetek Racing, while he was at the SimRacing Expo in Charlotte, North Carolina. Asetek Racing was on display at the event showcasing their high quality sim rig systems. André used the event to debut their new shifter and handbrake offerings, to offer a complete ecosystem. An Xbox-compatible Initium DD5 will be released later this year, to mark the start of the Xbox partnership. Expect both handbrake and shifter to be available in week 36 in EU, and week 45 in US. I was unable to attend the SimRacing Expo, but was thankful that André agreed to a virtual interview. Below is the series of questions I asked, along with his insightful answers.

Elias:

You mentioned that you are releasing a new shifter and handbrake. With those 2 new items, what was your main focus of developing those units? What's gonna set you guys apart from everyone else in the market for those 2 components?

André:

With all the vendors that are around right now, it's difficult to pinpoint and say, this is what will make us so much different from anyone else. We have seen a lot of users asking for an Asetek interpretation of a shifter and an e-brake, that actually matches our ecosystem and matches into our software. The feel should be like in a real car, reliability should be there. It should be able to handle punishment. It's not a toy, and the feel and the look, everything is like a typical Asetek product. We have done a lot of reliability testing on it, really a lot, and we changed the design number of times, to make sure that even after hundreds of thousands of shifts, that it still feels the same as when it was new. Then we also have the LED lights that are not just for fun, you can program them for optimal gear shifts and things like that.

E:

These past couple of years, the sim world has just boomed. There's been so much development. Where do you see sim racing hardware evolving? Is it a focus on hardware or on software?
A:

In my opinion, I think we'll keep seeing hardware getting out because that's how manufacturers make a living. You know, I would be lying to you if I told you there’s some massive advancements to be made to make it feel more like a real car. Honestly, two cars don't feel the same anyway, even the same car doesn’t feel the same. It also depends on what surface you're driving on? What tires do you have on? What wheels do you have? I think in terms of wheel-based advancement, I think you can get more from software at that point. We've already done some of it. If you get the LEDs right on a wheel base, for example, it will serve you as a driving coach, and tell you where the traffic is coming from.

E:

When you mentioned that kind of coaching, are you seeing where maybe the coaching can be, programmed into those LED lights? Like you mentioned, the shift points, maybe the braking points, not just having them as visual cues on the track, but maybe loading up your previous laps to see where you're improving. Is that something that you guys would be looking into?

A:

Yeah, for sure. It's something I think we're looking at constantly. A good example, you know, if you take our S-series pedals, you should have 3 LEDs. I can actually watch from a distance, and see what you were doing. We don't have this feature now, but imagine that you could record the last lap, then just by having your eyes, you can see your feet and then actually either see yourself or someone who's faster than you. For example, let's say I was faster than you, and then you could see, oh, André is braking there.

E:

Do you think that SIM racing is getting too expensive for newcomers and how has Asetek racing help solve the issue?

A:

I'm actually glad that you asked that question. As an example, if you take our Initium Pedal Set, I think they're $119, you are getting started with a really nice set of pedals. The reason I start with the pedals is because any race car driver will testify, that's where you find speed. You don't find the speed in the wheel base until you find it in the pedals. These pedals can be upgraded all the way to our Invicta series, with the hydraulic braking, without having to replace them, just upgrading. That's something I care about for many reasons, because I think it's kind of stupid, you buy something, and then it’s, oh, no, I've grown out of it, and you throw it away.

E:

What do you think is more important today? The realism or the entertainment factor?

A:

Well, it's all the eyes of the beholder, right? Because when I started the sim, I used it for my real race. So there was only one thing that was important for me, and that was to win. It was something I was very serious about, and I just wanted the best, you know, the best feeling, the best sensation. But I've also come to realize that, if I could only have one answer to your question, I would say fun one. I have, a garage at home and I have some friends coming over from time to time. I have a wine bar right there and, you know... I used to have a super high end set up for 3 screens and everything. But I actually downgraded into one screen. I actually, have both an Xbox and a PC, because there's no fun in a PC, in this environment I just told you about. Invite over some friends, and I may have not turned on the simulator for weeks, then you turn it on, then there's NVIDIA driver updates, then there's windows updates. Before you have made that damn thing running, all your friends have left. So, you know, that's not fun. Whereas, for example, we are launching our Xbox stuff. There, you can have friends over, you push the bottom and you’re ready to drive. Then, you can turn off the Xbox, use our same hardware, and then you can do the PC experience. So I think there's time and place for everything, but if I just had to take one, I mean, and assuming I was not racing cars, for sure, I would take fun any day.

E:

We've been seeing this world of the sim racing exploding because we're starting to see some of these real-life racers start off with sim racing. Do you see this kind of being the standard of going into actual motorsports world as opposed to, starting with a smaller racing series, maybe carts, maybe Miata racing, and then going to full on racing?

A:

I don't think you can go real racing and be competitive without sim racing. I know a lot of racers, and I don't know any of them who aren’t sim racing. So I think that's an important point to make. But I think we also have to be honest that if it wants to go to real racing, you need to have the money. I think you can become a great racer doing sim racing. You can see the line, drive and log the hours, hours, and hours, refining every corner, every track, and of course, when they get to the real track, they remember all of that. What I have seen from sim racers, is going to the real track, where they lag a little bit, is perhaps the danger factor. Going down the corkscrew in Laguna Seca, you know, on a sim, doing it in the real world, it's very different.

E:

My last question, and this is gonna be a fun one. You're working right now, and I know that these events are fun, but they can be exhausting. You want to relax and jump on your sim.  Tell me what your ideal Asetek racing's rig setup is, and what track and car are you going to get into?

A:

Oh, that's an easy question for me to answer because I am right there. I used to live in California, and I used to race there, as I told you. I would say Sonoma Raceway, and I would ride my Pro Formula Mazda. My son, he even made one with the Asetek livery and all of that stuff on it. So that would for sure be my go to. I'm using the Invicta hydraulic pedals, because they are really stiff, short travel, hard, and they feel like the cars that I've been driving. And then, for sure, on the steering wheel, it'll be the Forte Formula Pro or the Invicta. Now that we're coming out with shifters, I would actually not use the paddle shifters. I would use our shift, in sequential mode, because the Pro Formula Mazda that I drove actually has a sequential gear shifts.