In a tragic incident, national racing champion Ashwin Sundar and his wife Nivedita died on Saturday after their BMW rammed into a tree. According to media reports, the 27-year-old racer, who was driving the car, and his wife were trapped inside the car which went up in flames after the accident. Both of them died on the spot.
Chennai-born Sundar was a very popular name in the national racing arena. He grabbed eyeballs in the racing circuit at the young age of 13 when he won the 2002 MRF National Go-kart Championships (Under-17). He later went on to bag the title again in 2003. In 2004, he debuted in the Formula LGB series. Though he finished fourth in the race, he caught the attention of major players as he was the youngest driver to have participated in the series. After continuing his stellar performances, in 2007, he became the first Indian racer to win both the Formula Swift and Formula Hyundai categories. He also went to win MRF Formula 1600 International Challenge events in 2010 and 2011. He won the national Formula 4 championship twice, in 2012 and 2013.
A video of the car going up in flames was posted by a bystander on Facebook.
Sundar's death has left the racing fraternity shocked, and messages of condolences are pouring in.
Sad to hear about the demise of an outstanding racer and pride of India🇮🇳...May you and your wife's soul Rest In Peace #AshwinSundar 🙏 pic.twitter.com/psxhgCTRwM
— Satyam Singh (@MyFreakyTweets) March 18, 2017
Indians were crying for Paul walker but most of the Indians don't know this terrible news about #AshwinSundar .!!
— AAkash MOdi 🇮🇳 (@Aakashskymodi) March 18, 2017
श्रद्धांजलि #AshwinSundar
Besides mourning the loss of an ace racer, some tweets also reflected upon safety concerns of high-end cars.
So, the super expensive, zero utility yet overtly popular BMW makes cars that catch fire? Safety before status anyone? #AshwinSundar
— N (@nethraa_) March 18, 2017
How on earth does a #BMW catch fire? #AshwinSundar death. terrible tragedy....
— Latha Srinivasan (@latasrinivasan) March 18, 2017
