Imola to host European debut of autonomous AI racing league

The Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari in Imola will host the European debut of the Abu Dhabi Autonomous Racing League (A2RL) on September 5. This event marks the first time the championship has held a race outside of the United Arab Emirates.

Five university teams from Italy, Germany, France, and the United Arab Emirates will compete using Dallara Super Formula SF23 vehicles. While the cars are identical, they lack human drivers, relying instead on artificial intelligence, sensors, and algorithms to manage acceleration, trajectories, and overtaking. The competition serves as a high-speed laboratory to test how AI handles high speeds and close-quarters racing.

The project is organized by ASPIRE, a division of Abu Dhabi’s Advanced Technology Research Council. Italian institutions and companies play a central role, with Dallara providing the vehicles and academic groups such as PoliMOVE from the Politecnico di Milano and Unimore Racing participating in the development of autonomous systems.