Richard Arnaud Team Principal of Alpine Esports gives us an insight into the series and what is coming for the future.
With Simrace247 and our sister site GrandPrix247 being the official media partner for the Alpine Esports series, we dropped some questions to none other than Richard Arnaud, Team Principal of Alpine Esports and Race Clutch CEO.
These are the moments where people in the sim racing genre can get a fantastic insight into Esports, but also from those at the top of the ladder in terms of pinnacle information. Many motorsport and sim racing fans will know that Alpine has a majestic heritage that runs deep. The modern age of sim racing and Esports may still be in its early years, but Alpine is here to stay and create excitement, high calibre racing and innovation for the future and beyond.
DB: “Alpine Esports, as many know, is a premier racing team in the sim racing genre, but also hosts its own series to discover the best sim racing drivers. Richard, what a race at Paul Ricard, the talent and impressive racing was in abundance. What did you think about it?”.
RA: “It was for sure one of our best opening rounds since we started! This year, the level of the grid has reached new heights. I think the constant commitment from the team has led to a strong reputation. The Alpine Esports Series is also one of the championships with the biggest prize pool on Assetto Corsa, with an innovative format that has proven itself over 2 seasons.
DB: “We know there is so much talent out there in the sim racing genre, it is really impressive to see a brand such as Alpine offering great opportunities to users. What does Alpine have upcoming in the future for aspiring sim racers to get involved in?”.
RA: “As you have seen since the beginning of 2023, Alpine Esports is becoming stronger & stronger within the Renault Group and Alpine. Last year, our ambassador Thom ‘THOMB’ Brouwer participated in the Alpine F1 Experience and took the wheel of a real F1 car. So far, we are the only team to have offered this opportunity, and the same goes with the Alpine Esports Series for Jaroslav ‘Jardier’ Honzik & James Baldwin winning the Alpine A110 GT4 Experience. We are expanding our programs and presence and we are continuing to close the bridge between the virtual and the real world of racing”.
DB: “Being a fan of motorsport and sim racing myself, it is great to see such vehicles from Alpine represented within the sim racing genre attracting a great following. With the technology within the sim racing genre becoming more advanced, what do you think the future of sim racing will be?”.
RA: “I think it will be closer and closer to the real thing. I will take the example of VR in the construction space. VR now is a technology used very frequently to design new buildings, offices and so on. Yet, sim racing isn’t fully used by manufacturers as a tool to develop cars. However, I do see this coming in the future, the thing with sim racing is that you can simulate thousands of laps and accumulate far more data that can never be reached in the real world for many reasons because of the environment, cost of testing and general logistics. In my opinion, we are only at the beginning of the story”.
DB: “We know that the F1 simulator for the official team gets used a lot, just how close is the current generation of games and equipment representative to the official F1 simulator?”.
RA: “The F1 simulator is a dedicated tool used by the team to set up the car and develop it. Current F1 games are more into the sim-cade genre, in-between simulation and arcade, so you can’t compare the two really – even if the immersion in the game nowadays and the finesse needed to drive gives similarities to both worlds. In terms of hardware, if I am only taking the peripherals like pedals, wheels and force feedback wheelbase, both worlds are very similar. In that regard, a sim racer won’t be lost in the F1 sim!”.
We thank Richard for taking the time to answer our questions, what’s coming next from Alpine Esports, its the next round of the Alpine Esports Series on May 11th at Silverstone in Assetto Corsa Competizione. Simrace247 & GrandPrix247 shall be covering the event, so be sure to tune in and support your favourite teams and drivers on Binance Live and Alpine’s YouTube and Twitch channels.