Bridgestone, Indy Autonomous Challenge demonstrate future mobility at Goodwood

Bridgestone’s technical partnership with the Indy Autonomous Challenge (IAC) has made its public bow in the UK at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. The tyre manufacturer said the event represented an opportunity to “bring a vision of autonomous driving to life for thousands of onlookers.” Three IAC university teams attending the 2023 event were preparing the ground for next year’s show, scanning and digitally mapping the Goodwood Hillclimb to support IAC’s 2024 autonomous hillclimb challenge. Bridgestone commenced its partnership with the world’s first autonomous high-speed racing competition in 2020, supplying tyres and technical expertise. It says the partnership demonstrates how it is helping to drive autonomous motoring to the next level.

Bridgestone and the Indy Autonomous Challenge demonstrate a vision of future mobility at the Goodwood Festival of Speed 2023 (Photo: Bridgestone)

Bridgestone’s North Region vice president Andrea Manenti said: “Our work with the Indy Autonomous Challenge, its partners and its participating teams is part of a shared passion to push the boundaries of self-driving car technology and increase public awareness of the positive impact that automation can have on society.

“These efforts closely align our vision at Bridgestone to create new value as a sustainable solutions company. This vision extends beyond tyres to advance sustainable technologies and digital platforms that support a world of future mobility that includes electric, autonomous and connected vehicles.

“Through the IAC, we’re able to help university engineering teams understand the role tyres play on vehicle performance and how they can be incorporated as part of the design and development process for autonomous technologies.”

The IAC exhibited as part of the festival’s Future Lab area, which gives an insight into the future of mobility with concepts that may become a reality in our lifetime.

The Indy Autonomous Challenge is based in Indiana, USA and organises a series of competitions among full-scale autonomous racecars. Last month, the IAC announced that team PoliMOVE won the first-ever autonomous driving road course time trial competition, held at the Monza “Temple of Speed”. The historic feat took place as part of the Milan Monza Motor Show (MIMO) at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza.