Abu Dhabi Announces World’s Largest Autonomous Racing League

Abu Dhabi has announced the launch of the world’s largest autonomous racing league. The league will kick off with the autonomous car race in Q2 of 2024.

The league was announced by ASPIRE, the program development arm of Abu Dhabi’s Advanced Technology Research Council (ATRC). ATRC is responsible for defining Abu Dhabi’s research and development strategy.

Set to take place at the iconic Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, the autonomous car race will be the first in a series of autonomous vehicle races.

A core goal of the Abu Dhabi Autonomous Racing League is to push the boundaries of autonomous mobility by hosting challenges to advance R&D in autonomous racing and artificial intelligence (AI).

With a prize pool of up to USD 2.25 million, the Abu Dhabi Autonomous Car Race will feature the Dallara-built Super Formula cars, the usage of which has been enabled by Japan Race Promotion, Inc. (JRP).

The Super Formula cars are the fastest in the world, outside of Formula One, and they will be adequately equipped for autonomous racing.

Race viewers will be ab le to experience the head-to-head autonomous car racing, with live updates from Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) infographics.

His Excellency, Faisal Al Bannai, Secretary General, Advanced Technology Research Council, says: “We are proud to announce the Abu Dhabi Autonomous Racing League, where we will set new benchmarks for autonomous vehicles and help them pre-empt and prepare for unknown challenges as they become more mainstream. In addition to creating a community platform for motorsports fans, the Abu Dhabi Autonomous Racing League will feature an open development model, supporting faster progress, faster testing, and greater innovation. Machine learning and reinforcement learning will be key to collecting data and developing the technology of these vehicles.”

Yoshihisa Ueno, President, Japan Race Promotion, Inc., adds: “As Japan's premier racing series, SUPER FORMULA, we are delighted to partner with ASPIRE for the Abu Dhabi Autonomous Racing League to see racing and technology come further together. Since 1973, we’ve accumulated over 50 years of expertise, and always operated at the forefront of racing. Our SF23 race car, which will be used in the Abu Dhabi Autonomous Racing League, is a huge leap forward in technical performance and, importantly, carbon neutrality, so it’s very exciting to see it being driven by an autonomous technology stack. This partnership with ASPIRE is yet another example of our ambition and we cannot wait for the first race.”

ASPIRE works in consultation with cross-sector industry stakeholders, universities, and research institutes.