Indy Autonomous Challenge Makes History with Autonomous Speed Records at Monza “Temple of Speed”

The Indy Autonomous Challenge (IAC) announced that team PoliMOVE had won the first-ever autonomous driving road course time trial competition, which was held at the Monza “Temple of Speed.” The historic feat had taken place as part of the Milan Monza Motor Show (MIMO), which ran from June 16-18, 2023, at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza.

In January, the IAC had announced its expansion of challenges to include road courses and had formed a two-year partnership with the Milan Monza Motor Show to run competitions at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza on the famed F1 circuit. IAC teams were tasked with programming their AI drivers to pilot identical Dallara AV-21 racecars in the first IAC exhibition ever held on a road course and the first run outside the United States.

The IAC had brought six autonomous racecars and five university teams to MIMO to compete in six sessions over three days, totaling more than 1,300 miles of testing where the cars had consistently reached increasing speeds, running progressively faster lap times. The autonomous driving software had been programmed by students and researchers from some of the most advanced universities and research centers in the world.

The teams included KAIST (Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology), MIT-PITT-RW (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of Pittsburgh, Rochester Institute of Technology, University of Waterloo), PoliMOVE (Politecnico di Milano, University of Alabama), TII UNIMORE Racing (University of Modena and Reggio Emilia), and TUM Autonomous Motorsport (Technische Universität München).

TII UNIMORE Racing, TUM Autonomous Motorsport, and PoliMOVE had entered the final round of competition on Sunday afternoon, separated by only three seconds.

In a thrilling ending, team PoliMOVE finished their final lap in a blistering 2:05.87 on the 5.79-kilometer / 3.6-mile-long track, with 11 turns, reaching a top speed of 273.4 KPH / 169.8 MPH. They beat the odds as PoliMOVE’s AI driver piloted a backup AV-21 racecar due to a wreck of their original car during practice earlier in the week.

TUM Autonomous Motorsport secured second place with a lap time of 2:08.66 (269.9 KPH/167.7 MPH top speed), while TII UNIMORE Racing finished third with a final lap time of 2:11.24 (250.8 KPH / 155.8 MPH top speed). More than 10,000 spectators filled the stands to witness a first-of-its-kind spectacle of fully autonomous racecars competing on an F1 circuit. The fact that a “hometown” team representing Politecnico di Milano won led to a historic celebration on the Monza Winner’s Podium.

Each of the five university teams participating received an official driving license to participate in the competition, which was issued by ACI Milano. Although the license was granted to the team leader, it represented a first-of-its-kind motorsport license for an “AI driver.” To gain approval from ACI Sport, the IAC and each university team had to submit historical data and demonstrate track tests at Monza to validate the ability and safe operations of an autonomous racecar.

The IAC will continue to collaborate with ACI Sport and the Autodromo Nazionale Monza to advance the rules and regulations guiding autonomous racing competitions, with the goal of holding the first multicar head-to-head racing competition during MIMO 2024.

In addition to track activities, the IAC exhibited alongside Premier Sponsors, the Indiana Economic Development Corporation (IEDC) and Luminar, all week in Pit Boxes 37-39. The exhibition allowed spectators to learn about IAC’s base of operations in Indiana, where it is partnering with the IEDC to develop a global hub for high-speed automation.