GET TO KNOW THE SIM RACERS
You’ve seen them race in Round 1 of the Formula E: Accelerate Series, and we wanted you to know more about our super sim racers Olli Pahkala and Lucas Müller. In order to properly acquaint ourselves with these esports talents, we asked them some tell-all questions…
How did you first get into esports?
Olli: Back in 2012 my friend showed me a video of a sim racing world championship race. I was blown away and bought my first wheel and pedal set the next day!
Lucas: The first big esports event I did was actually the ABB Formula E Race at Home Challenge in 2020. Before that I had raced in smaller leagues in pretty much every sim just for fun, but until that moment in Hong Kong, it all wasn’t that serious. The reason I started with virtual racing was that I had simply loved cars and racing for my whole life but never had the opportunity to race in real life.
What has been the best moment in your esports career so far?
Olli: Racing with Mahindra in the Visa Vegas eRace in 2017 and finishing in P3 is the best moment of my esports career so far. Being there live with Dilbagh, Felix, Nick, all the pro racers and sim racers was an amazing experience.
Lucas: That has to be my first win in the Race at Home Challenge in Hong Kong. It was so unexpected, and at the time I had no clue about which insanely talented drivers I was actually racing against, because I simply wasn’t part of the whole esports/sim racing community at that point.
What is your dream car?
Olli: Saab e900i – a Mahindra pimped electric version of my good old -88 Saab
Lucas: If we talk about normal cars it is definitely a Nissan GTR R35, but for race cars it has to be the Ferrari F2004. Michael Schumacher is my hero.
How would your friends describe you in three words?
Olli: This is a direct quote from a friend; “Reliable, brave and hilarious”
Lucas: I just asked my friends. The answer was passionate, ambitious and chilled out.
If you could only eat one meal for a year, what would it be?
Olli: Mashed potatoes and sausages.
Lucas: Pizza. Pizza is everything.
Would you rather be invisible or be able to fly?
Olli: I would listen to Frank Sinatra and fly to meet you all!
Lucas: I think to fly would be great, so you can easily go to many different races all over the world 🙂
Aside from esports, what is your main hobby?
Olli: I like winter sports a lot, cross-country skiing and snowboarding are the main ones. During the summer we play soccer, I’m usually the left defender.
Lucas: Besides my motorsport passion I love to play soccer and to watch football or to simply hang out with friends.
When travel is allowed again, where in the world would you love to visit?
Olli: I’d like to travel in Asia and Australia, those are the place I would aim for first. In Asia we shall start from India!
Lucas: I really want to see as much of the world as possible in my life. One place I really want to visit is Dubai.
What are you most excited about during this FE Accelerate series?
Olli: The energy management plays a huge role in Formula E and I’m looking forward to learning it from the sim racing side. It excites me a lot as there are so many things to take into account, as well as many opportunities to decide how you want to control your own race.
Lucas: First of all, I am really excited to be back with Mahindra. It is the team where everything started for me and the whole team has such a nice atmosphere, which makes me want to do even better! Secondly, I’m excited to be teammates with Olli, he is one of the few sim racers I followed even before I started racing on my own. He is a really nice and fast guy and has so much experience, so I can learn a lot from him. Also, I really want to complete what I started in the Race at Home Challenge. I want that P1 in the standings and I will give everything I have to reach my goal.
Catch Olli and Lucas in Round 2 of FE: Accelerate on Thursday 4th February.
