Abu Dhabi Autonomous Racing League

Car Race

Quick facts Race information, Number of times held ...

A2RL Autonomous Car Race

Yas Marina Circuit, Abu Dhabi, UAE
Race information
Number of times held	2
First held	2024
Circuit length	3.005 km
Race length	20.1 km
Laps	20 laps
Last race (2025)
Pole position
Hailey Technical University of Munich 12:34.621
Podium
1. Hailey Technical University of Munich Lap 20 2. Musa TII Racing +47.006 3. Eva PoliMove +55.037
Fastest lap
Hailey Technical University of Munich 58.183, Lap 20

Close

A2RL's main event, the car race is a standard formula racing format with self-driving formula cars. The cars are made by Dallara and are modified versions of Super Formula cars with Yokohama tires. These cars had the CPUs of their AIs mounted where the driver's seat is on a non-modified chassis, as well as hydraulic actuators for AI control of the vehicle, multiple sensor systems including LIDAR and GPS, and a large LED indicator showing the status of the AI.^[6]

The first car race was held on 27 April 2024.^[3][7] This race was marked by the cars' subpar performance: Out of four cars that qualified, only two finished the race - the other two did not.^[8][9][10] The next race was held on 15 November 2025, with 11 teams.^{[11][12][4][13]}

Drone Race

Created in partnership with the Drone Champions' League, the drone race is the quadcopter drone racing aerial format of the A2RL. The first race was held on 11/12 April 2025 at the ADNEC Marina Hall.^[14] 10 teams are scheduled to take part.^[15]

Buggy Race

The buggy race will be the off-road format of the A2RL using self-driving dune buggies. No date or number of teams has been announced for the first race.^[16]

Other events

A2RL is known to host AI vs AI and Human vs AI events, in Abu Dhabi and abroad. One such event took place at the Suzuka Circuit in Japan. The Human vs AI race was precluded due to AI car "Yalla" crashing into the wall during the formation lap.^[17][18]