In this new blog series we’re going to give you a behind the scenes insight into some of our key partners here at Digital Motorsports. We’ll be chatting to the likes of Simtag, Fanatec, Sim Lab, Cube Controls, Simucube and all the key players in the simulation industry.
But before we dive into that, let me give you a bit of background into why this series came to life. Over the course of my career, I’ve held a wide variety of roles. My background has always been in Operations & Business Development.

A normal day for me was filled with mostly tedious tasks, all with the end goal of driving some else’s business forward, with the exception of one or two of my own ventures. Needless to say, when I met Niall and Rob back in 2019 that all changed drastically. The three of us hit it off and when I officially became part of the senior team and really starting diving deeper into the business, I realised that this was not going to be like any other challenge I had faced in my professional career.

My role today is one that most young, aspiring race drivers/simulator enthusiasts could only dream of. Let’s face it, we get to hang out at the race track, test high end simulator products, watch motor racing and travel to cool places. While that is all great, one of the most interesting aspects of my role and the part I love the most is building our B2B partner relationships. It’s a key element to consistency with regards to being able to supply the market with the best quality products at a reasonable price, on a global scale. Is it all fun and games? Absolutely not. Digital Motorsport have earned their reputation as the worlds number 1 sim racing store through extremely hard work, dedication, long days and a lot of blood, sweat and tears!

The Sim racing industry is full of fascinating, talented individuals and companies and in this series you’re going to get a behind the scenes look into who our partners are, why they do what they do and what are their visions for the future of Sim Racing. 

To kick things off, we’ve got something special, an interview with a really exciting up-and-coming company you probably haven’t heard of! - Grid Engineering.

You heard it here first! Grid Engineering are ones to watch. So much so, that we have signed a long term agreement with them to be their Sole Distributor and Reseller for the whole of the UK & Europe, and will be helping them scale to the levels they deserve to be at.

Their product range currently focuses on sim racing wheels, digital dash's, button boxes and electronic switches and components but they have lots of exciting products in the pipeline. Their latest P911 Wheel is truly a thing of beauty and the Cosworth LMP2/3 Wheel which they are currently developing is going to extremely popular.

With F1, WEC, V8 Supercar and WRC drivers all using their equipment to keep sharp, there’s obviously something very special about what they do. The amount of time they spend testing equipment before mass producing would even make Tom Kristensen shake at the knees. I caught up with owners Brandon and Nick to get an insight into their history, products, and plans for the future!

Check out the short interview below....

“Guys, thanks for your time. I know you’re super busy and are currently working on a lot of special products due to be released on to the market in the new few months, so I won’t keep you long! Let’s get straight to it. ”

Who are your racing idols and why?
“I can't say I have any! I have always been a massive motorsport fan of all types. I truly just enjoy watching racing battles and tight competition!”

What made you start manufacturing sim racing hardware?
“I have always been mechanically inclined. Having owned nearly 30 cars and building some from the ground up, 95% on my own to compete in drifting, time attack and road racing over the past 17 years, I built myself a sim to practice and hone in my skills which went from a table clamped Fanatec CSL Elite to a monster rig in about one year (bit by the bug!). It was once I purchased a small Mige, that I started researching DIY builds which of course turned into building my own wheels in no time. This instantly turned into building multiple wheels for myself and friends/teammates and partnering up with one of the most talented designers/builders in the world.”

How long have you been doing it?
“Around 3 years, my partner has been at it for close to 10 years.” What inspires you? “We have seen some flaws in the industry with regards to quality of product and what you receive for the price paid. In our case, we truly want to design and manufacture industry leading top quality products at a great price to consumers! We were once consumers as well just like anyone else and witnessed price gouging and some brands capitalizing on a market with a low amount of manufactures forcing consumers into buying their product due to limited selection.”

What is your vision?
“As much as we would love to become one of the largest sim manufacturers out there, this is not a goal we have in mind. This type of growth is sometimes where a company will lose focus on its roots and initial values when starting a business. We are completely transparent about our vision of customer service as #1 and providing customers with products that we would personally use and trust on our sim setups as far as reliability, quality of construction and parts used in our builds goes.”

What sets your products above the rest of your competitors?
 “Research & Development. Our latest feature utilizing telemetry controlled RGB has been over half a year of R&D, building numerous test PCB's and testing them for hours on end at 100% brightness with various RGB effect patterns to verify the longevity and reliability of the product. Many people have no idea of what happens behind the scenes, an example of this is our latest 50.8 to 70mm hub adapter. While it is such a small and simple product, numerous FEA (Finite Element Analysis) tests were done on various types of aluminium and repeatedly simulating a 70nm DD at full force over a 24 hour period to ensure the strength of the hub at these levels while reducing wall thickness which in turn reduces overall weight within the wheel system. This is done with all structural billet parts GRID manufactures. The team at GE has a wealth of knowledge and talent in fabrication, design, real motorsport experience, electrical and mechanical engineering.“ 

Why did you decide to partner with Digital Motorsports to be your sole distributor for EU & UK?
“Being very familiar with Digital-Motorsports and constantly seeing them active online, DM has built a brand focused on the same goals as us with a stellar reputation and feedback globally. Truth be told, anyone I had asked about experiences with DM had nothing but positive things to say and this is who we want to represent our brand when dealing with consumers worldwide.”

What excites you about the future of sim racing?
“The rate of GROWTH! The future is bright within the sim community and we are very excited to see the development of not only our other products but other brands as well with everything from cockpits, to pedals, to VR, to motion to set the bar higher and provide a more immersive experience! The competition in all forms of sim racing is truly incredible and will only continue to get better!”

Do you see sim racing as a pathway to real world motorsport? If so, why?
 “1000%, it has been known, seen and proven for years where your everyday average Joe can prove their talents on the track in sim racing and potentially win or be offered a seat in the real world. Anything is possible if you put your mind to it! Don't give up on your dreams!”

So, there you have it! What a great chat with Brandon & Nick. It was a pleasure catching up with them and we’re all extremely excited to see what these guys are coming out with over the next few years.
To check out their products, head to the Grid Engineering brand page. 

As a rule of thumb, we never allow Pre-orders on goods and the reasoning behind it is simple. We provide the best service around, ship same or next business day, and want you to get your products quicker than Mazepin can crash out in Bahrain. However, for something as special as this, we have allowed the Grid Engineering range to be purchased on Pre-order as they are going to be pretty tough to come by while Brandon & Nick are scaling production.

For European or UK B2B sales inquiries, contact Sean@digital-motorsports.com.