The world’s largest autonomous car race will take place in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates on November 15th, as 11 teams from around the world compete in the A2RL (Abu Dhabi Autonomous Racing League) race that mixes robotics, autonomy, and AI for a $2.25 million prize pool. For season 2, the six fastest teams made it through the tough qualification to the Grand Final, with the Yas Marina Circuit event having reached full capacity of the main grandstand.

A2RL is a new racing series aimed at pushing the envelope of autonomous technology. Conceived by Aspire and brought together by the efforts of engineers, scientists, and programmers, it is a STEM-focused race and global autonomous showcase similar in concept to the IAC (Indy Autonomous Challenge), with some of the same competitors. Each year, teams from educational and technological institutions from around the world compete to develop the fastest, most capable racing AI.

According to the organizers, the A2RL Grand Final will mark the first time that six fully autonomous racecars will compete wheel-to-wheel on track. They will compete in a 20-lap, multi-car race to crown the A2RL Season 2 Champion.

The six teams in order of qualification—TUM Autonomous Motorsport (Technical University of Munich, Germany); Unimore Racing (University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Italy); Kinetiz Racing (Singapore/ UAE collaboration); TII Racing (Technology Innovation Institute, UAE); Polimove Autonomous Racing Team (Politecnico di Milano, Italy); and Constructor University Racing Team (Constructor University, Germany)—were determined in October. Reigning champion, TUM, has qualified in pole position after a fierce “multi-car qualification” sprint race against rival Unimore.

A2RL will host a Silver Race for the other five teams. In order of qualification, they are Rapson (Humda Lab, Hungary); Code 19 (a privateer, USA); Fly Eagle (Beijing Institute of Technology, China, and Khalifa University, UAE); FR4IAV (an academic and industry partnership, France); and TGM (Servus Japan, Japan).

The pre-season buildup for the race has seen record-setting performance, as the gap between human and AI performance narrows. During qualification, Unimore was the first to beat a benchmark lap time set by a human racing driver while testing.

This demonstration of machine versus human, and the rapid evolution of AI performance, will be showcased on race day. TUM will have the privilege of racing against former F1 driver Daniil Kvyat in A2RL’s second Human vs AI showcase. A close battle is expected in this exhibition.

A2RL is supported by SteerAI, alongside leading partner Du Infra; official partners AWS and Abu Dhabi Mobility; official supporters Wio and Castore; technical partners Paceteq, Live in Five, Meccanica 42, and Vislink; as well as event partners Abu Dhabi Gaming, Miral, and the UAE Cybersecurity Council.

 

Upgraded racecar

A2RL uses an autonomous Dallara Super Formula SF23, one of the fastest single-seaters outside of F1 that reaches speeds of up to 300 km/h (186 mph).

Among the key technology suppliers are Meccanica 42, which supplies actuators such as the corner brake actuators and pinion-type steering functions. Seyond provides its Falcon ultra-long-range lidar sensors for the autonomous system. ZF supplies its ProWave radar units. Sony contributes the IMX728 cameras used for 360° sensing.

Other component supplier highlights are Brembo, which supplies the braking systems for the cars. Yokohama supplies the tires for the Super Formula cars. Neousys provides the high-performance racecar computer.

Teams are all given the hardware and basic software, and they’re tasked with developing the algorithms that can simultaneously assess changing grip levels, outsmart opponents, and set fast lap times. The base car has been upgraded for season two, the EAV-24 becoming the EAV-25, and has a new set of safety, reliability, and powertrain enhancements versus its predecessor.

The teams’ programming will determine the car’s real-time decision-making, but A2RL provides the autonomous stack as well as the sensor and computing packages. This has been overhauled this year, containing a sensor fusion architecture that better assesses the conditions around the car.

That means there are a number of additional sensors on the cars this year, which form part of a more streamlined data stream that improves the split-second decision-making the autonomous vehicles need to make to compete with their human counterparts.

In terms of safety, the EAV-25 brings battery upgrades, improvements to the emergency braking system, and a secondary IMU (inertial measurement unit).

Improving reliability was a central consideration for the engineering team in the development of the EAV-25. This included upgrades to many key components, including the steering system, GNSS and 5G antennas, upgraded electronics, and motorsport-spec wiring looms.

The powertrain has also received select improvements to the alternator, gearbox, and a new fuel line to minimize the risk of fuel leakage. The technical changes include an upgraded alternator, a new Honda OEM unit that’s more compact with less inertia.

There are also shorter gear ratios that will enable teams to extract better performance from the Yas Marina circuit, and there have been gearbox calibration changes to reduce the harshness of the upshifts and downshifts while creating a more progressive power delivery.

 

September SIM-Sprint virtual test

The inaugural A2RL Sim-Sprint series concluded in late September after its fourth race, with Kinetiz claiming overall victory. The virtual autonomous racing series created with help from Autonoma pushed the teams’ AI drivers to the limit at three different racetracks: Suzuka, Yas Marina Circuit, and a purpose-built Autonodrome virtual track.

The Kinetiz team finished with 78 points, narrowly beating A2RL Season 1 winner, TUM, by just 4 points. Unimore Racing and PoliMOVE rounded out the top four, separated by just one point. They were followed by Constructor Racing and TII Racing.

The Sim-Sprint series was created to accelerate the development of driving algorithms and refine sporting regulations ahead of the real-world A2RL race. The four virtual races provided teams with a range of challenges and “edge cases” to push their algorithms to the limit in a safe and accessible environment. This set them up for greater success when their algorithms will pilot the EAV-25 autonomous racecars at up to 300 km/h around Yas Marina Circuit.

“From the outset, we had to build a world-class autonomous racing simulation platform, secure team engagement, and launch an all-new virtual competition,” said Alexander Winkler, Head of Sporting at A2RL.  “The result was a robust and fiercely competitive series that has become a genuine reference point for A2RL’s future, accelerating both AI development and our sporting framework.”

Over the course of A2RL Sim-Sprint, the ruleset evolved through five different iterations, mitigating potential issues and promoting fairness. This evolution was grounded in the “spirit” of the competition and racing with respect, a factor that will be even more important for the real-world race in November.

“The team at A2RL has done a fantastic job in building Sim-Sprint from the ground up in mere months,” said Stephane Timpano, CEO of Aspire, the A2RL organizer. “It has enabled the level of competition to grow sharper and better prepared the teams for wheel-to-wheel action around Yas Marina Circuit in November.”

 

Supercars, Fan Zone, and where to watch

Kicking off the November 15th race day, Group 63, the biggest Mercedes-Benz AMG Club, will take to the track for a Supercar Parade Laps display, setting the stage for the autonomous race. This will be followed by awards for the A2RL STEM Competition, which involved 140 students from across all seven Emirates racing AWS DeepRacer 1/18th-scale autonomous cars that mirror the main A2RL competition.

This year’s Fan Zone will offer an immersive experience for all ages. It will feature humanoid robot showcases, interactive games, hands-on tech activations, live entertainment, and family-friendly attractions that will bring the excitement of autonomous innovation beyond the track.

The race will be broadcast globally on November 16th at 3 pm GST on the Abu Dhabi Media Network, StarzPlay, Motorsport TV, and the official A2RL YouTube Channel. Fans can step into the action with A2RL’s live VR platform, experiencing the track, live car data, and high-speed action unfolding all around them, in real time.