Ashwin Sunder – Young talent gone too soon

The motorsports fraternity came in for a rude shock on Saturday as the news of the tragic accident that killed the ace racing driver Ashwin Sundar and his wife spread like wildfire. The couple were driving a BMW Z4 in the wee hours of Saturday in Chennai and ended up hitting a tree on the roadside. The doors could not be opened as they were stuck between a compound wall and the tree and subsequently when the car went up in flames, it led to the couple’s tragic demise. 

Even as the motorsports fraternity is trying to come to terms with this sudden accident, we can’t help but remember Ashwin’s achievements that first catapulted him into the limelight at the racing scene. The Chennai boy won the MRF Formula Mondial National Karting Championship in 2003 and 2004 and made his debut in the FISSME, the single seater Formula Maruti racing series, and 1300cc Formula LGB in 2004. In 2005, he moved on to bike racing and made an immediate mark there too. After taking the third place in his first year in the 150cc four stroke Nationals, he went on to win the championship in 2006 after switching to Team TVS Racing and also won the 115cc class. 

Ashwin then moved on to the serious car racing and in 2006 he won the third place in both the Formula LGB Hyundai and Formula LGB and went on to win the National championship (Hyundai and Swift) the following year. Representing Speed NK Racing, the team started by Narain Karthikeyan, he won the 1600cc Rolon Championship in 2009. He won the MRF Formula 1600 International Challenge in 2010 and 2011 and went on to become the F4 National Champion in 2012 and 2013.

Ashwin was just 27 and an inspiration to many aspiring racers. His absence is sure to leave a void in the world of Indian Motorsports.