UAE’s Kinetiz Wins A2RL’s First International Autonomous Race at Imola

The UAE’s Kinetiz team has won the Abu Dhabi Autonomous Racing League’s (A2RL) first international race, marking Europe’s first multi-car autonomous race at the iconic Imola Circuit in Italy.

Held on September 5 as part of the ACI Racing Weekend, the 12-lap race brought together five fully autonomous racecars and marked a major step in A2RL’s ambition to establish the world’s first international championship for fully autonomous racecars.

Kinetiz Takes Victory in Five-Car Autonomous Race

Kinetiz claimed first place, followed by Germany’s Constructor Racing in second and Italy’s PoliMOVE in third. Unimore, also from Italy, finished fourth, while Germany’s TUM — the A2RL champion in both 2024 and 2025 — finished fifth.

All five teams competed using identical EAV-25 hardware, meaning performance differences were primarily determined by software capabilities, including perception, planning, vehicle control and real-time decision-making.

The result marked Kinetiz’s first victory outside Abu Dhabi and placed a UAE team at the top of A2RL’s first international event.

Technical Issues Reshape the Race

The race produced a dramatic sequence of events as technical issues affected several leading teams.

Two-time champion TUM encountered a technical problem during the formation lap and returned to the pit lane before the rolling start.

Unimore, which started from pole position, set the race’s fastest lap at 1 minute and 40 seconds before suffering a technical failure that brought its car to a halt.

PoliMOVE had been running within a second of Unimore and reached the race’s highest speed of 252.3 km/h. However, its car was unable to avoid the suddenly slowed Unimore vehicle and collided with its rear, ending both teams’ races.

The incident allowed Kinetiz to move into the lead, which it maintained through to the chequered flag.

Imola Puts Autonomous Racing to a New Test

Known for its elevation changes, narrow racing lines, limited run-off areas and challenging overtaking zones, Imola provided a significantly different environment from A2RL’s home venue at Yas Marina Circuit.

The autonomous systems were required to continuously respond to competitors, manage positioning and grip, and make real-time decisions about when to attack, defend or alter their planned trajectories.

The race therefore tested not only speed but also how autonomous systems adapt to unpredictable situations during wheel-to-wheel competition.

Faisal Al Bannai, Secretary-General of the Advanced Technology Research Council, said the event provided important insights into the reliability, resilience and real-time decision-making capabilities of autonomous systems.

From Abu Dhabi Testbed to International Championship

Organised by ASPIRE, the grand challenges arm of Abu Dhabi’s Advanced Technology Research Council, A2RL brings together teams and organisations working across autonomous mobility, under the strategic oversight of the Smart and Autonomous Systems Council.

The league has evolved from a public testbed for artificial intelligence under extreme racing conditions into a competitive autonomous racing series.

The Imola event represented its first international chapter after two seasons at Yas Marina Circuit and moves A2RL closer to its goal of becoming an international championship for fully autonomous racecars.

Stephane Timpano, CEO of ASPIRE, said the Imola race raised the level of competition by requiring autonomous systems to operate in a different environment while racing alongside rivals.

Nine Days of Testing Ahead of Imola

Teams had only nine days of physical testing before the race, with preparations taking place under changing weather conditions that included rain and hail.

A newly fitted wet-weather package enabled all five teams to participate, collectively completing 38 testing laps.

A2RL also continued its Sim Sprint programme, allowing teams to refine their algorithms using high-fidelity digital twins of circuits including Yas Marina, the A2RL Autodrome, Suzuka and Imola.

According to ASPIRE, the teams’ development strategy was supported by more than 5,000 hours of simulation testing and racing in 2025, highlighting the growing role of simulation in autonomous motorsport development.

Kinetiz Hails UAE Victory

Omar Hanif Alqassim, Team Principal of Kinetiz, described the victory as a proud moment for the team and an opportunity to represent the UAE on the international stage.

He credited the team’s preparation and ASPIRE’s A2RL platform for creating an environment in which autonomous technology developed in the UAE could compete internationally.

The result also highlights the UAE’s growing focus on applied artificial intelligence and autonomous mobility, with A2RL using motorsport as a demanding environment to test technologies capable of making rapid decisions under pressure.

A2RL Heads Back to Yas Marina

A2RL will return to Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi for its next race.

The circuit has served as the league’s home since its launch in 2024 and will remain an important testing and competition venue as the programme continues to evolve.

Lessons from Imola will feed into A2RL’s research and development programme in Abu Dhabi, with international racing environments providing additional data on how autonomous systems respond to different circuit layouts, conditions and racing challenges.

The 2026 series is supported by SteerAI, with AD Ports and du Infra as leading partners, AWS, Abu Dhabi Mobility and Abu Dhabi Gaming as official partners, and HP and Castore as official supporters. PACETEQ and Live in Five are technical partners.