First self-driving car race ends in smash

Racing drivers of the world, your jobs are safe... for now.

Roborace has held its first race between autonomous cars, a somewhat unimpressive spectacle that ended in a crash.

Taking to the streets of Buenos Aires as the opening act for the first round of this year's Formula E championship for electric cars, the Roborace debut featured a pair of "Devbot" self-driving cars programmed to handle themselves on track.

The cars reached speeds up to 185km/h, showing strong acceleration performance before slowing down to corner more conservatively than professional human drivers.

One car crashed out of contention, leaving the solitary contender to take a lonely win. Roborace chief executive Denis Sverdlov described it as a "historic moment" for autonomous vehicle development.

"Seeing these two cars interacting at speed on a race track shows how fast the technology is progressing and how important a platform Roborace is for further development," he says.

"It is so exciting to see these vehicles functioning without any human intervention, making their own decisions and taking appropriate actions in order to guide themselves around the track."

The current "devbot" machines feature a cockpit capable of housing human drivers, who are used to refine the car's behaviour before they are let loose on track. Next-generation "Robocar" machines styled by Hollywood designer Daniel Simon feature futuristic bodywork with no room for a pilot.

Organisers hope to have more cars on the grid in coming months, putting Roborace forward as a key battleground as tech companies fight to build the smartest car on the road.