Driver in Beijing ‘Fast and Furious’ car crash is former pool champion
The driver, who started playing when he was 11, was well-known in Beijing pool circles as a “young genius”, though he has reportedly quit the game.
The driver of a Lamborghini that collided with a Ferrari in a high-profile traffic accident in Beijing at the weekend is a former prize-winning pool player.
Tang Wentian, 21, was a national champion in nine-ball pool at the age of 14, The Beijing News reported.
Tang, who started playing when he was 11, was well-known in Beijing pool circles as a “young genius”, though he has reportedly quit the game.
Tang and the Ferrari driver, surnamed Yu, were detained on suspicion of dangerous driving after the two vehicles crashed in the Datun Road Tunnel in Chaoyang district during heavy rain on Saturday night.
A young woman who was a passenger in the Lamborghini at the time of the crash has recovered from her injuries and been discharged from hospital.
Tang’s mother said she did not know the woman.
Speculation on mainland social media has suggested both drivers are from families of senior government officials or rich businessmen, but Tang’s mother has denied this, claiming that they are an “ordinary” family.
Tang lives with his parents in a 1,000 sq ft, two-bedroom apartment in Tiantongyuan, a residential neighbourhood on the northern outskirts of Beijing.
“[I] never thought they could afford a Lamborghini,” a neighbour, surnamed Ma, was quoted as saying.
Tang’s mother said he had bought the vehicle with money he had made from the stock market before the Lunar New Year, along with a smaller contribution from his father.
Lamborghinis sell for between 4 million yuan (HK$5 million) and 8 million yuan in the capital; Ferraris cost between 3 million yuan and 6 million yuan.
Photos uploaded by witnesses on social media suggest that there were more sports cars at the scene of the crash.
A photo posted on the internet by a witness showed two cars – one white and another black – parked inside the tunnel along with the Lamborghini and Ferrari. Several people were standing next to the black vehicle, and the Ferrari driver was among them, The Beijing News reported.
The founder of Beijing Sports Car Club said there were indeed other vehicles at the scene after the club surveyed its members. “According to the information we’ve obtained, there were a Maserati and two Nissan GT-Rs,” he was quoted as saying.
The Lamborghini and Ferrari were seen refuelling at a gas station near Solana Lifestyle Shopping Park in Chaoyang district along with several other luxury sports cars on Saturday afternoon, hours before the crash.
“[There were] several of them, of different models. It was very spectacular,” a worker at the gas station said.
The Ferrari driver is not the owner of the vehicle. The owner, Zhang Guifang, was also not a member of Beijing’s car clubs but has more than 10 driving offence records, the newspaper reported, citing anonymous sources.
Previous media reports have cited witnesses as claiming that the two drivers belonged to the same car club.
But the four sports car clubs in Beijing have all denied that the two drivers are their members.
