Imola: The Abu Dhabi Autonomous Racing League (A2RL) has concluded Europe's first fully autonomous multi-car race, held at Italy's Imola Circuit as part of the ACI Racing Weekend. The UAE's Kinetiz team emerged victorious in the league's inaugural international race, contested over 12 laps on one of the world's most technically demanding motorsport circuits.
According to Emirates News Agency, A2RL is organised by ASPIRE, the grand challenges arm of Abu Dhabi's Advanced Technology Research Council. The league brings together leading players in Abu Dhabi's autonomous mobility ecosystem under the strategic oversight of the Smart and Autonomous Systems Council. It has evolved from a public testing platform for artificial intelligence under extreme racing conditions into a competitive autonomous racing championship.
The Imola race marked A2RL's international debut following two seasons at Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi. It reinforced its ambition to become the world's first international championship for fully autonomous racing cars. Five autonomous cars competed, with the UAE's Kinetiz taking victory ahead of Germany's Constructor Racing in second place, Italy's PoliMOVE in third, and Unimore in fourth. Germany's TUM, champion in both 2024 and 2025, was classified fifth.
All teams used identical EAV-25 hardware, making software the decisive performance factor, from perception, planning, and control to real-time decision-making. TUM's winning streak ended after its car developed a technical problem during the formation lap, forcing it back to the pits before the race began. Pole-sitter and race leader Unimore recorded the fastest lap of one minute and 40 seconds before a technical failure brought its car to an abrupt halt. PoliMOVE, which had followed within a second of the leader from the start and recorded the highest speed of 252.3 km/h, could not avoid Unimore's suddenly slowing car and struck it from behind, bringing both teams' races to an abrupt end. Their retirement handed the lead to Kinetiz, which maintained its advantage to the chequered flag.
Faisal Al Bannai, Secretary-General of the Advanced Technology Research Council, commented, "A2RL reflects how Abu Dhabi approaches advanced technology: setting an ambitious challenge, bringing the best minds together, and creating the conditions for accelerated progress. Imola put that approach to the test, with five autonomous cars navigating the uncertainty and pressure of a live race. Seeing Kinetiz take the win marks an important moment for the UAE, while the wider value lies in what the race revealed about reliability, resilience, and real-time decision-making. These insights will help advance autonomous systems far beyond racing."
Stephane Timpano, Chief Executive Officer of ASPIRE, congratulated the UAE's Kinetiz team on their victory, stating that Imola raised the level of the challenge, pushing autonomous systems to compete side by side in an entirely different environment. The race generated valuable data that will accelerate the next phase of research and development.
With its elevation changes, narrow racing lines, limited run-off areas, and difficult overtaking opportunities, Imola provided a rigorous test of autonomous systems' ability to manage grip, traffic, positioning, and overtaking under sustained pressure. The race required the artificial intelligence systems to respond continuously to rivals' movements, make real-time decisions about when to attack or defend, and adjust their planned trajectories as the race unfolded.
Omar Hanif Alqassim, Team Principal of Kinetiz, expressed immense pride in winning A2RL's first international race, highlighting the team's hard work and dedication. He praised the organisation of the race by ASPIRE, which showcased the autonomous technologies being developed in the UAE.
Before the race, teams prepared through an intensive period of physical testing lasting just nine days, in changing conditions that included rain and, at one stage, hail. A new wet-weather package enabled all five teams to take part in testing, completing a combined 38 laps. To complement physical testing and give teams further opportunities to refine their software, A2RL's Sim Sprint competition returned this season, using high-fidelity digital twins of Yas Marina Circuit, A2RL Autodrome, Suzuka, and Imola to develop and validate algorithms.
Alessandro Tucci, Executive Director of the House of Grand Challenges at ASPIRE, noted that the performance demonstrated by the teams during the race was the result of a clear development strategy built on more than 5,000 hours of simulation testing and racing in 2025. Imola was a significant step in A2RL's evolution, and he expressed pride in what the teams and the wider A2RL ecosystem have achieved.
A2RL will return to Yas Marina Circuit for its next race. As the league's home since its launch in 2024, the circuit remains the benchmark venue for its continued development.