Teaching cars to drive themselves has proven a lot more difficult than earlier imagined, as various robotaxi missteps have shown.
Teaching racing cars to drive like Max Verstappen or Oscar Piastri is proving just as challenging.
A race series for self-driving cars had an embarrassing start when only two of the four cars finished the inaugural race in 2024. Now, after going back to the drawing board, the Abu Dhabi Autonomous Racing League (A2RL) is getting ready to relaunch with 12 teams at a race in November.
A2RL is an autonomous racing league based in Abu Dhabi and organised by Aspire, part of the UAE government’s Advanced Technology Research Council. It uses Dallara single-seater racing cars modified with hydraulic actuators for AI control of the vehicle, and multiple sensor systems including Lidar and GPS.
The first race was held in April 2024 at the Yas Marina Circuit, and it quickly became apparent during qualifying that cars operated by AI had a long way to go when several cars spun out, crashed into each other or stopped on the track.
The race was no better. Originally scheduled to last eight laps, it was shortened to six laps after the self-driving cars got confused in a Monty Python-esque comedy of errors. Shortly after the start, a car spun off, triggering a yellow flag which the other three cars misinterpreted as a signal for them to stop on the circuit.
The race was restarted but one of the cars soon spun off again, causing the car behind it to initially stop in sympathy before resuming the race and finishing second, 27 seconds behind the winner and the only other race finisher.
After the embarrassing display in front of 10,000 spectators and more than 1-million global streaming viewers, organisers decided the cars’ artificial brains needed more driver training before being allowed back onto a real racetrack, and launched a SIM-Sprint racing series for the purpose.
The virtual autonomous racing series pushed the teams’ AI drivers to the limit at three different racetracks, including Suzuka, Yas Marina Circuit, and a purpose-built virtual track called Autonodrome.
In a safe online environment where no real cars would be dented, the four virtual races provided teams with a range of challenges and “edge cases” to push their algorithms to the limit ahead of the real-world A2RL race on November 15. A2RL hopes the online training has better prepared the teams for real wheel-to-wheel action at up to 300km/h around Yas Marina.
From cutting corners to collisions, the teams tested — and broke — the newly-created governance system. It included penalties being imposed for collisions and real-time investigations by the stewards.
Alexander Winkler, head of sporting at A2RL, said: “We had to build a world-class autonomous racing simulation platform, secure team engagement, and launch an all-new virtual competition. The result was a robust and fiercely competitive series that has become a genuine reference point for A2RL’s future.”
Stephane Timpano, CEO of Aspire, said: “The team at A2RL have done a fantastic job in building SIM-Sprint from the ground up in mere months. It has enabled the level of competition to grow sharper and better prepare the teams for Yas Marina in November.”
