Britain's fastest speeder faces jail after clocking up 172mph in Porsche

Timothy Brady, 33, was spotted driving more than 100mph over the limit on a dual carriageway in the £93,000 sports roadster.

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He was on a 70mph section of the A420 in Oxfordshire, parts of which are notorious for accidents, in the 3.6-litre vehicle belonging to the courtesy car firm where he worked as a delivery driver.

He hit the hair-raising speed at 2pm on a Saturday in January and was seen by a policeman who was clocking cars from a bridge over the A420 at Kingston Bagpuize.

Four miles further on he was pulled over when police blocked the road with a car.

One officer is said to have told him: "Any faster and you'd have taken off."

A friend said later: "Tim is a total petrolhead who lives for TV programmes like Top Gear.

"Tim says he was doing 180mph at his fastest. His bosses were not very happy."

A Thames Valley Police source is also said to have commented: "One of the lads asked if Richard Hammond was at the wheel."

At Oxford Crown Court, Brady looked sheepish and spoke nervously to confirm only his name and admit the charge of dangerous driving.

He was warned that his joyride is likely to result in a jail term.

The court heard how Brady, from Harrow, North-West London, had taken the Porsche from Helphire in Abingdon, Oxfordshire.

However, he denied a charge of aggravated vehicle taking relating to taking the car from his workplace. The plea was accepted by the Crown Prosecution Service.

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Brady's admission yesterday makes him the fastest speeder officially clocked by a speed gun or camera.

But it is slightly less than the speed driven by motorcyclist Daniel Nicks, who filmed himself doing 175mph on his 900cc Honda Fireblade in Buckinghamshire in 2000.

He was jailed for six weeks and banned for two years.

In 2003, motorcyclist Andrew Osborne reached 157mph while riding alongside his friend Neil Bolger, who was doing 148ph.

Car dealer Jason McAllister from Aberdeen received a fivemonth jail sentence and a four-year ban in May 2003 after clocking 156.7mph in his BMW M3.

During the five-minute plea and case management hearing yesterday, Brady was given an interim driving ban.

Mitigating, John Reilly told the court: "He is a young man who has no previous convictions. He obviously pleaded guilty to a serious offence before the court today. He has lost his job as a result of this."

Earlier this year it emerged Brady had handed in his resignation. A company spokesman said at the time: "He jumped before he was pushed."

Granting Brady conditional bail, recorder James Patrick said: "The defendant must assume that a custodial sentence is quite likely. "By releasing you on bail you must not think that I'm making any promises at all about how you will be dealt with - 172 mph is extremely fast."

Brady, who was wearing a navy blue suit and thickrimmed circular glasses yesterday, faces a maximum two-year jail term.

The court can also can hand out an unlimited fine, a disqualification and penalty points. He is due to be sentenced next month after reports.