Stéphane Timpano, CEO of Aspire, frames A2RL as more than a show: it’s a living testbed where robotics, AI and autonomy are pushed to their limits. Year one, he says, was about trial and error, technical choices, the autonomous kit, and the hard work of data and sensor fusion.
The big unlock came with a year-round simulator, giving teams unlimited laps without the cost of crashes. The impact is now visible on track: cleaner racecraft, overtakes above 150 km/h, and even laps that beat the human reference time.
The point isn’t to replace humans; it’s to complement them. Timpano links the circuit to the city, arguing that fast-growing hubs like Abu Dhabi will need smarter, data-driven mobility. But technology alone won’t carry the day. The decisive factor, repeated three times, is trust, public confidence that autonomy is safe, reliable, and worthy of the people we love.
With entrants from traditional racing alongside academic and tech teams, A2RL has forged a new competitive personality, engineers as racers, code as craft. Timpano keeps his favourites to himself, but the message is clear: A2RL is accelerating research while delivering the drama fans crave, closing the gap between machine capability and human expectation.
