2025 Wrapped: Thanks for Racing Along With Us
Hi Everyone!
Richard here, CEO of Sim-Lab.
Let’s get right to the nitty-gritty. Black Friday was an incredible period for us, and honestly, the demand exceeded what we had anticipated. While that is something we are very grateful for, it also meant that we ran into challenges delivering all orders as quickly as we wanted. In particular, handbrakes and seats were affected by supply chain issues. We have been in direct contact with all affected customers, and we are doing everything we can to ease the situation and get products out as soon as possible. This is not the experience we want anyone to have, and we are continuously improving our processes to prevent issues like this in the future.
In November, we expanded our logistics operations to the United States and launched our new US website alongside it. This allows US-based customers to benefit from lower shipping costs and significantly faster delivery times. While the launch has been a success, stocking the warehouse has progressed more slowly than expected due to production pressure in the EU. We expect this to be fully resolved in the first quarter of 2026, with a fully stocked US warehouse and full product availability.
Looking ahead, we are genuinely excited about what’s coming next. Not only because we are close to launching our Direct Drive wheelbase, which we believe will be a serious contender for the best wheelbase of 2026 and a true challenge to the status quo. We are also completing the circle with our product lineup, enabling a fully integrated Sim-Lab cockpit to enjoy our favorite hobby from A to Z.
This year also marked our 10th anniversary, and we are stronger than ever as we enter what we believe will be a defining year. Alongside the TorqueSync™ Direct Drive Wheelbase, which will enter its pre-order phase around the end of January or beginning of February, several other products are now in their final development phase. One of these is a GT-style focused steering wheel, offered in three different versions to suit varying levels of functionality. We’re also developing a licensed product that will truly stand out and raise the bar for replica-level realism. More on that project very soon. Furthermore, 2025 marked the beginning of our partnership with Cosworth. These absolute legends in motorsport will bring us a real competitive edge in upcoming products, not all of which we have announced yet, aside from the Mk3 steering wheel.
Back to the Direct Drive wheelbase. We are very much looking forward to sharing the technical details and design philosophy behind it with the sim racing community. For now, it is mostly heads-down work to ensure we meet our planned launch timeline by the end of Q1 2026. The wheelbase introduces new technologies and is built around an industrial-grade design philosophy, combined with a clean-sheet approach that allowed us to define our ideal wish list from the ground up. The result is a wheelbase fully optimized for high-end sim racing. And yes, it features USB Data-Passthrough.
Looking back, we had two great expos this year, one in Chicago and one in Dortmund. These events gave us the opportunity to speak face-to-face with many of you and to let everyone get hands-on with our products. We were especially excited to have the Direct Drive tested so extensively. While feedback was overwhelmingly positive, we identified a firmware issue afterward that reduced center feel. These things happen, and we were glad to catch and resolve them quickly once we returned to the office.
On a more personal note, I also managed to do some “research” on the real track, officially under the disguise of R&D. I competed in several races in the Westfield Cup, a Dutch amateur racing series featuring ultra-light, Lotus 7–style cars on semi-slicks. These cars are agile, unforgiving, and constantly reminding you who is in charge. The series races on iconic tracks such as Zandvoort, Assen, Zolder, and the Nürburgring, and it remains one of the best ways for me to stay connected to real-world driving and truly understand what real-life racing is all about, which ultimately feeds back into product design.
Thank you for being part of the Sim-Lab journey. We are heading into the new year with a clear vision, strong momentum, and more exciting announcements on the way.
Wishing you a happy New Year,
Richard
CEO, Sim-Lab
Wishing you a happy New Year,
Richard
CEO, Sim-Lab