Chennai: Indian race-car driver Ashwin Sundar and his wife were killed early Saturday after their BMW crashed into a tree and burst into flames in southern India, police said.

Ashwin  and his wife Nivedhitha were on their way home when their car swerved out of control and rammed into the tree in Tamil Nadu state’s capital Chennai

“The vehicle got stuck between the tree and the compound wall on the road side… (and then) the car caught fire,” S. Yuvraj, a local investigative police officer, told AFP.

Yuvraj said the couple were trapped in the blazing vehicle after it auto-locked from the impact.

Traffic police recovered their charred bodies after managing to get the car open.

Sundar won the MRF Formula 1600 International Challenge champion in 2010 and 2011. In 2012 and 2013, he won the National Champion F4. He signed a deal with German racing team Ma Con Motorsport in 2008 and drove in the ADAC Championship.

Sundar had won the national title in car racing and two-wheeler events on several occasions. His wife Nivedhitha was a doctor in a private hospital in Chennai.