Watch the driverless Audi RS 7 Sportback complete a lap at Hockenheim

The German manufacturer demonstrated a driverless concept ahead of the DTM German Touring Car Championship finals in Hockenheim, Germany on Sunday, October 19, 2014. The autonomous Audi RS 7 completed an entire lap of the track at race speed without a human pilot behind the wheel.

To navigate its way around the track, the car uses specially adjusted GPS signals transmitted to its on-board computer via WiFi. At the same time, the car's 3D cameras film the track and a program compares the incoming footage to previously stored graphics. This technique allows the vehicle to follow an 'ideal' trajectory as closely as possible.

Audi has been developing driverless technologies for around a decade now, leading to smart driving aids such as Active Lane Assist and Side Assist, which help with maintaining and changing lanes, and Adaptive Cruise Control, which adjusts the car's speed to maintain an appropriate distance from the vehicle ahead.

The production version of the Audi RS 7 Sportback, launched over the summer, is presented as a rival to the Porsche Panamera, the Maserati Quattroporte, the Aston Martin Rapide S and other luxury sports cars. Under the hood, its 4-liter V8 twin turbo engine develops 560hp. The model is capable of going from 0 to 100km/h in 3.9 seconds and of reaching a top speed of 305km/h.

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