Five Driverless Cars Race at Imola
Tuesday, September 22, 2026150 words2 minutes1156 reads
Five fully autonomous race cars competed at Italy’s Imola Circuit on 5 September 2026. They raced without people in the driving seats. Team Kinetiz won. Its partners include Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, UAE company K2, and Alp Autonomy.
The event was Europe’s first five-car autonomous race. Kinetiz started fourth on the grid, then finished 10.963 seconds ahead of Germany’s Constructor Racing. All teams used the same EAV-25 hardware, so their software made a major difference during the twelve-lap race.
A single driverless car must stay on the track, brake, and steer. In a group race, its system must also notice traffic, predict other cars, and decide when to overtake. Imola made this difficult: it has elevation changes, narrow racing lines, and few easy places to pass safely. The league uses racing to test how AI systems make decisions under pressure and speed. This makes each decision a harder task.
