Maiden flights of the world’s first flying race cars have taken place in Southern Australia.

The flights, which were deemed successful, mean that three remotely-piloted electric flying car Grand Prixs in unannounced locations will now take place this year.

The organisation that is behind this series of unique races is Airspeeder, with Alauda Aeronautics having designed the race car for this impending race series – the Airspeeder EXA.

Weighing in at 130kgs, the four-metre-long Alauda Airspeeder Mk3 can reach 0-100kmh in just 2.8 seconds and can fly at speeds of up to 250km per hour according to an article by The Guardian. The series will see each of the aircraft perform two pit stops in each race to swap out their respective lithium polymer batteries.

The aircraft has been built to contain a human pilot, though at the moment they will be controlled by a remote user.

“We’ve got a robot in the cockpit, linked up to a pilot on the ground. When the pilot turns their head, the robot turns their head,” said Matthew Pearson, founder of Alauda Aeronautics.

If the uncrewed races proceed safely, then human-piloted races could follow in the future.