A 59-year-old man caught "showing off" at 145mph in his BMW received a four-month suspended sentence yesterday.
James Higgins was convicted on April 16 of dangerous driving on the A46 in South Warwickshire, after he was recorded driving at high speed alongside a second motorist.
Warwick Crown Court heard Higgins, of Church Road, Doynton, Bristol, was "clearly not a low earner" who worked for BAE and, previously, KPMG.
Judge Richard Griffith-Jones told Higgins: "This was such a very dangerous piece of driving by you. As it happened, apart from the other fellow who was driving as fast as you, and the police, there was no one else who was put in jeopardy - but there may have been."
To call it racing was an overstatement, he said, as the two drivers were not overtaking each other, but there was an element of "showing-off".
The judge said: "It may be that he didn't know the other driver but putting it as kindly as possible, they were both enjoying the very high speed these vehicles can do.
"The courts have to take this sort of driving seriously because people's lives are in danger."
He sentenced Higgins to a four-month suspended sentence, 200 hours of unpaid work and ordered him to pay costs of £2,311.
Higgins was also disqualified from driving for two years and must pass a retest before driving again.
The judge told Higgins, who said at his trial that he drove at speed under duress, he had "lied".
He said: "You're not going to be punished because you gave a lying account to the jury but I can give you no credit."
He accepted that Higgins was "most unlikely" to appear in court again, but it was important "to demonstrate what the court views people who drive that fast should face".
The court heard that Higgins, a hardworking family man, had a previous speeding offence. The other motorist pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing.
