---
title: "Formula Drift Driver Ryan Tuerck Takes on an Autonomous Race Car"
description: "Who is better, man or machine? Roborace's DevBot takes on driver Ryan Tuerck."
date: "2018-05-10"
modified: "2018-05-11"
authors:
  - name: "The Drive Staff"
    link: "https://www.thedrive.com/authors/the-drive-staff"
url: "https://www.thedrive.com/accelerator/20767/formula-drift-driver-ryan-tuerck-takes-on-an-autonomous-race-car"
categories:
  - "News"
tags:
  - "Formula Drift"
  - "racing"
  - "self-driving cars"
---

# Formula Drift Driver Ryan Tuerck Takes on an Autonomous Race Car

![](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/images-by-url-td/content/2018/05/tuerckdevbot.jpg>)
*\<em\>www.thedrive.com</em>*

The 2018 Formula Drift season is underway, and while Formula Drift driver Ryan Tuerck is particularly at home with his [Ferrari V8 engine powered work of art, the GT-4586](<https://www.thedrive.com/watch-this/13587/watch-ryan-tuerck-try-to-daily-drive-his-gt4586-drift-car>) drift car, he recently headed to Rome to race out of his element.

There, Tuerck not only drove on the Formula E Rome street circuit, but also took on the DevBot, a development test mule based on a Le Mans prototype race car. It's part of preparations for a Roborace series featuring self-driving race cars.

The DevBot has the drivetrain and power of the future Robocars, plus a cockpit for a human, which future Robocars for the Roborace series will not have.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BikcNBlH9Y1

Hopping into the DevBot cockpit, Tuerck got a chance to test his skills. He went out and set some practice laps to get a feel for the car.

"Any mistake that you do, any corner that you brake too late, you're done," CEO of Roborace and defending Formula E Champion Lucas Di Grassi told Tuerck.

Tuerck then hopped out of the car to let it do its own thing: Take laps with its seat belts swaying and no human behind the wheel.

![giphy.gif](<https://media.giphy.com/media/5z9MuVccpiFEWzLEEF/giphy.gif>)
**Roborace | YouTube**

I will not spoil who won the challenge Ryan Tuerck or the DevBot. Roborace's feature *RYAN TUERCK: Pro Drifter vs Autonomous Car in Human + Machine Challenge* is below.

https://youtube.com/embed/kh00GAx66sA

### Author social links