National racer Ashwin Sundar killed in high-speed mishap
The accident occurred at around 1.45 am, and a distress call to the fire control was made about five minutes later.
Chennai: In a Paul Walker-styled fatal accident involving a luxury sports car, national racing champion Ashwin Sundar (31) and his doctor-wife Niveditha (26) were charred to death after the BMW Z4 they were in went for a spin besides catching fire while negotiating a speedbreaker on DGS Dinakaran Salai, MRC Nagar, on Saturday. Niveditha, a Sri Lankan national, worked in a private medical college hospital.
The accident occurred at around 1.45 am, and a distress call to the fire control was made about five minutes later. The call was allotted to Mylapore fire station, which reached the spot in about five minutes.
According to eyewitnesses, the car engulfed in flames in no time and exploded multiple times. “We were not aware of anyone present in the two-seater convertible. Since the roof was in retracted position, we thought the occupants would have fled the vehicle. We saw them only after we doused the flames completely by 2.10 am. While we were trying to take the woman out, the cops managed to break open the driver side door to take the man out by roping in an earthmover passing by that road,” V. Sankar, station fire officer, Tambaram, who was holding charge for the night-duty at Mylapore fire station, told this newspaper.
Police sources said that the car might have been doing between 80-100 kmph at the time of climbing the speedbreaker. “From the looks of the accident, we suspect that he must have lost control of the vehicle soon after he hit the speedbreaker. The car veered off to the left and rammed into a compound wall with headfirst, and then hit the tree. Both inmates were struck in the mangles in the double impact, and could not move out. It also appears that the airbag has not opened in the impact while the fuel tank leak must have been tied to the fire.
There were no signs of struggle from either of them, and they were wearing their seat belts,” a senior police officer revealed. A technical investigation by a motor vehicle inspector from the Regional Transport Office (RTO) will shed more light into the incident while the car-maker would do his line of investigation by testing the completely wrecked and charred vehicle.
The Indian motorsport fraternity woke up to the tragic news of racing champion Ashwin Sundar’s untimely death on Saturday. The road accident shocked fellow competitors and officials as an eyewitness footage of the BMW Z4 convertible engulfed in flames went viral on social media.
When Ashwin burst onto the domestic circuit as a prodigious talent at the age of 14, he was touted as the next big thing in Indian motorsport. A versatile racer, Ashwin excelled in all forms. After dominating the karting circuit, he switched to the two-wheeler category and left his mark there before shifting his focus to Formula cars.
The Formula Rolon championship he won in 2009, representing Narain Karthikeyan’s Speed-NK Racing team, underlined his growing reputation. More domestic titles followed, but his dream of racing abroad for a full season never took off.