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The first race of the Abu Dhabi Autonomous Racing League<\/a> (A2RL) took place on the Yas Marina Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Formula 1 track today, and I\u2019m pleased to report that a race both began and ended. But the event was not without strife \u2014 far from it. During qualifying time trials, the driverless Dallara Super Formula racers outfitted with cameras and software seemed to struggle mightily to complete a full lap.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n During the trials, cars randomly juked:<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Or just pulled off the track to take a little break:<\/p>\n<\/div>\n You get well-acquainted with the interstitial music during these highlights. All praise to the patience and grace of the announcers, who didn\u2019t sigh once that I heard. Instead, they declared things like that these cars are \u201cpushing the boundaries of science.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/div>\n When it came time for the actual race<\/a>, the lead racer, Polimove, spun out<\/a> on the fourth of eight laps. The second car, Tum, passed it safely, but shortly after that, the event\u2019s officials threw up a yellow flag. And since these are good AI drivers who obey the rules, the two behind Polimove stopped, unwilling to pass the spun-out yellow car. Racers aren\u2019t supposed to pass each other during a caution lap, you see.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n About an hour after the first lap of A2RL began, the AI racers completed their eight-lap race. If you must know, Tum won. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n These are early days for autonomous racing, and surely things will get better eventually \u2014 certainly, they\u2019ve come a long way since Roborace\u2019s first full circuit<\/a> in 2017. I\u2019m looking forward to the day they\u2019re as good as human racers (if that ever happens<\/a>). But for right now, we\u2019re very much still in the \u201ccongratulate baby for successfully getting most of its food into its mouth\u201d phase of self-driving racers. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n