Indy Autonomous Challenge heads to Italy
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The Indy Autonomous Challenge is making its first on-track appearance outside of the United States this weekend. For the first time, the full-scale autonomous racecars developed through the IAC will run on the Monza F1 circuit as part of the Milan Monza Motor Show, or MIMO, in Italy.
It will be the first time the IAC cars will run on a road course. Five university teams will compete in a time trial race on the Monza circuit; they will not go head-to-head as they have in previous races.
The IAC and each team had to submit historical data and demonstrate track tests at Monza in order to show they had the ability to safely operate an autonomous racecar on the track. Each team leader received a license to participate, marking the first time a motorsport license was granted for an “AI driver.”
“The IAC and our university teams are thrilled to be racing at Monza on the famous ‘Temple of Speed,'” said Paul Mitchell, chairman and president of Indy Autonomous Challenge. “Working with ACI-Milano and the staff at Monza to establish the world’s first officially sanctioned autonomous racing competition and driver’s license is a historic moment that will advance the state of innovation and safety in the automotive industry for years to come.”
There will be two timed sessions each day from Friday through Sunday, meaning the teams will have six total sessions to get the best lap out of their cars. The participating teams are:
- TUM Autonomous Motorsport – Technische Universität München (Germany)
- KAIST – Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (South Korea)
- PoliMOVE – Politecnico di Milano (Italy), University of Alabama (USA)
- TII Unimore Racing – University of Modena and Reggio Emilia (Italy)
- MIT-PITT-RW – Massachusetts Institute of Technology (USA), University of Pittsburgh (USA), Rochester Institute of Technology (USA), University of Waterloo (Canada)
The IAC said the goal is to ultimately hold the first head-to-head race on the Monza course in 2024.
“Monza has always paid special attention to research and development, and being a partner of the Indy Autonomous Challenge is a source of pride for us,” said Giuseppe Redaelli, president of the Autodromo Nazionale Monza. “The hope of being able to bring the legend of ‘Monzanapolis’ back to the track in a future-oriented version is a dream that we hope to realize as early as 2024.”
The term “Monzanapolis” refers to two races in the 1950s that took place on the 2.6-mile oval section of the Autodromo Nazionale Monza and saw Formula 1 and IndyCar drivers going head to head.
The IAC made its debut in 2021 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway with the Dallara AV-21 single-seat racecars. The cars have since run on other oval courses at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Texas Motor Speedway.