Primm, Nev. ? A driverless Volkswagen won a $2 million race across the rugged Nevada desert Sunday, beating four other robot-guided vehicles that completed a Pentagon-sponsored contest aimed at making warfare safer for humans.

The race displayed major technological leaps since last year’s inaugural race, when none of the self-driving vehicles crossed the finish line.

Stanley the VW Touareg, designed by Stanford University, zipped through the 132-mile Mojave Desert course in six hours and 53 minutes Saturday, using only its computer brain and sensors to navigate rough and twisting desert and mountain trails. The Stanford team celebrated by popping champagne and pouring it over the mud-covered Stanley.

“This car, to me, is really a piece of history,” Stanford computer scientist Sebastian Thrun said after receiving an oversized check for the $2 million prize, funded by taxpayers. He said he did not know how he would spend the money, but joked that he needed to buy cat food.

Stanford spent $500,000 on the race, some of which was provided by sponsors.