Autonomous racing completes a world first.
Why didn't they all win first place?
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George Tamayo | April 29, 2024 11:56 AM ET
The Abu Dhabi Autonomous Racing League (A2RL) completed the world’s first autonomous auto race at the Yas Marina Circuit before a full front straight grandstand on Saturday night. Four cars qualified for the final event to attempt what had never been done before: racing wheel-to-wheel without any human intervention.
The driverless race was won in a last-lap dash by Team TUM (Technical University of Munich) overtaking Italian team Unimore while another German squad, Constructor AI, took the final podium position.
Earlier in the evening, former Formula 1 driver Danill Kvyat participated in another groundbreaking exhibition competing with the Technology Innovation Institute’s AI-driven car. Over the course of several laps of Yas Marina’s F1 Circuit, the two traded positions, demonstrating the AI car’s ability to interact with the unpredictability of a human driver. In the end, the AI car finished the demonstration race just 10.38 seconds behind Kvyat.
Eight team in all were entered for the inaugural race. After three rounds of single-car style qualifying, the top four advanced to the final race. American team Code 19 racing struggled, posting the sixth-best time. Nevertheless, team principal Lawrence Walter was thrilled to be part of the first of its kind event.
“So many firsts have been achieved here today. It’s been an amazing start,” he said.
The pole-winning car from Italian entry Polimove shot off to an early lead following the first two laps of the planned eight-lap contest being run in virtual safety car conditions to allow the cars to get the tires of the Dallara Super Formula SF23 up to temperature.
Polimove’s lead would unfortunately be short-lived. Coming into the chicane at the end of Yas Marina’s long back straight, the car, nicknamed ‘Eva,’ locked the rear wheels under braking and looped it for a spin. The second-place car from Unimore passed safely to take over the lead, but with Eva stuck on track, the race was red-flagged.
The race was restarted following another couple of VSC laps, setting up a one-lap dash to the finish.
Unimore’s ‘Gianna’ got the jump when the race returned to green. Leading into the same chicane that befell its Italian counterpart earlier in the race, Gianna went wide entering the first left hand corner opening the door for TUM’s ‘Hailey’ to take the more aggressive line for the lead and hold it to the finish for the win.
“This event has been nothing short of extraordinary, and the finale was our defining moment,” said TUM team principal Simon Hoffman. “We are absolutely thrilled with the outcome; it speaks volumes about our collective engineering prowess, coding expertise, and sheer determination. It’s a testament to the incredible power of AI driving the evolution of autonomous mobility into the future!”