The Goodwood Festival of Speed is one the largest motoring events in the world, where car fanatics gather every year to see the latest vehicles.
But even the most seasoned attendees were in for a shock this year, as a driverless race car took to the course.
Roborace’s DevBot 2.0 laid down the first ever official timed autonomous run at the event, racing up the 1.16-mile course in just 66.96 seconds and reaching top speeds of 100 miles/hour.
While Roborace also released an autonomous car on the Goodwood track in 2018, this is the first time an official time has been taken.
Bryn Balcombe, Roborace’s Chief Strategy Officer, said: “The team are thrilled to have set the first ever official time for an autonomous vehicle at the Goodwood Festival of Speed hillclimb.”
In the morning of the race, Roborace’s CEO, Lucas Di Grassi drove the car manually from the start line, before stopping outside Goodwood house.
There, he leaped out the car, taking the steering wheel with him, and leaving the car to complete the hillclimb on its own.
To build even more excitement, Roborace removed the doors of the car, to really highlight the lack of human driver to the crowds.
Dan Garlick, General Manager of the Goodwood Festival of Speed, said: “This year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed presented by Mastercard truly shook up the established order, and Roborace produced a really significant performance.
“We saw the DevBot 2.0 raise the bar for what autonomous vehicles can achieve. Roborace has brought a whole new story to the sport that has really struck a chord with the crowd.”
