A2RL Autonomous Racing League Debuts at Imola 2026
The Abu Dhabi Autonomous Racing League (A2RL) will make its international racing debut on 5 September 2026 in Imola, Italy. The event will bring up to five fully autonomous racecars, based on the Dallara Super Formula SF23, to one of the world's most iconic and demanding racing circuits.
ASPIRE, the grand challenges arm of Abu Dhabi's Advanced Technology Research Council, organises A2RL. The league has quickly evolved from a bold public testbed for AI under extreme race conditions into a competitive racing series. The Imola race marks a major step in its global expansion. It follows two breakthrough seasons at Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi. It opens the championship's first international chapter before the series returns to the UAE capital for the 2026 season finale.
Reigning A2RL champion TUM (Germany) will compete alongside Unimore Racing (Italy) and PoliMOVE (Italy) at Imola, having qualified based on their performances during the 2025 season. Two additional teams, Kinetiz (UAE) and Constructor Racing (Germany), will compete in qualification events ahead of race weekend for the remaining spots on the grid.
H.E. Faisal Al Bannai, Secretary General of the Advanced Technology Research Council, said: "A2RL began in Abu Dhabi with a clear conviction: the future of mobility must be tested openly, rigorously and at the limits of performance. Its international debut at Imola demonstrates how the UAE is translating bold R&D ambition into globally relevant technology platforms that can accelerate progress in autonomous mobility".
Stephane Timpano, CEO of ASPIRE, said: "Taking A2RL to Imola is a major milestone in our ambition to build the world's first international championship for fully autonomous racecars. Few circuits carry the heritage and global standing of Imola, making it a powerful stage for our first international race. This is an important step for autonomous motorsport as both a technology platform and an emerging global sporting format."
Building on two breakthrough seasons in Abu Dhabi, A2RL has evolved from a world-first four-car autonomous race into a six-car Grand Final featuring wheel-to-wheel racing at more than 250 km/h. The league has also become a defining platform for Human vs AI competition. The performance gap between autonomous systems and professional drivers has shrunk dramatically, from 10 seconds in 2024 to just 1.58 seconds in 2025. Alongside this on-track progress, A2RL has built a growing global audience and has strengthened Abu Dhabi's position as a leading hub for autonomous mobility and AI innovation.
Imola is known for its elevation challenges, narrow racing lines with limited run-off areas, and difficult overtaking zones, and it also hosts the European Le Mans Series. Its technical corners and narrow margins will test how autonomous systems manage grip, traffic, positioning and overtaking under constant pressure. For competing teams, the event is a highly demanding environment where performance depends on software precision, sensor integration, engineering strategy, and real-time autonomous decision-making.
Alessandro Tucci, Executive Director, House of Grand Challenges at ASPIRE, said: "Imola is the perfect testbed for the top A2RL teams to demonstrate their racing capabilities on an extremely challenging track. Imola does not allow for half-measures. It rewards precision, control and courage, making it the right circuit for autonomous racing to show what it can do under real pressure. Every car on track carries the work of engineers and coders pushing AI from simulation into real competition".
Before testing on the Imola circuit in August, teams will prepare through A2RL's virtual racing ecosystem. The Sim Sprint series runs from 19 May to 17 July across high-fidelity digital twins of Yas Marina, the A2RL Autodrome, Suzuka and Imola, before concluding on the Yas Marina North Circuit, home of the A2RL Grand Final. During the prior season, Sim Sprint delivered more than 5,000 hours of collective simulation testing and racing across 11 teams. The platform provides teams with a controlled environment to develop and validate their algorithms before real-world autonomous competitions. Throughout the series, teams will face multi-car racing, overtakes, incident-response scenarios, and edge cases that are difficult to replicate safely on track. By giving teams more competitive mileage before Imola, Sim Sprint helps prepare AI systems for the speed, pressure and unpredictability of live autonomous racing.
Ahead of the race, A2RL engaged Italy's motorsport, engineering and academic communities through Motor Valley Fest and a series of university roadshows. As part of this engagement, A2RL executives took part in the programme at Motor Valley Fest, the Modena-based event that celebrates Emilia-Romagna's automotive industry, where organisers displayed an A2RL Super Formula car on the Imola stand. The roadshow included the University of Bologna, the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, and Politecnico di Milano, and it introduced students to A2RL's technology, its role as a high-speed AI testbed, and future pathways for teams, engineers and coders to join the series. This initiative reflects A2RL's broader mission to connect frontier AI research with the next generation of talent.
Following Imola, A2RL will return to Yas Marina Circuit, bringing the series back to the UAE's capital, where high-stakes autonomous racing first moved from concept to competitive reality. The Abu Dhabi event will conclude the 2026 season, bringing the championship full circle from its birthplace to its first international race and back again. As the home of A2RL since its launch in 2024, Yas Marina Circuit remains the benchmark venue for the league's continued evolution and growth.
SteerAI supports the 2026 series, alongside leading partners AD Ports and du Infra. Official partners include AWS, Abu Dhabi Mobility and Abu Dhabi Gaming, while HP and Castore serve as official supporters, and PACETEQ and Live in Five act as technical partners.
