A 22-year-old man driving an Aston Martin sports car broke China's speeding record last Friday after traffic police caught him going 258 kilometers per hour on a highway outside of Shanghai.

The driver, surnamed Ding, was racing his sports car against a man driving a Mercedes-Benz SLS on the Shenhai Expressway, when a traffic officer recorded both cars traveling about double the speed limit of 120 kilometers per hour, according to the Ningbo Expressway Traffic Police's official microblog.

"They were going so fast that I did not realize the two white shadows were actually cars until I checked the radar," an officer surnamed Yu told the newspaper Ningbo Daily over the weekend.

The Mercedes driver, surnamed Ruan, 25, was driving about 235 kilometers per hour, according to police.

The officer radioed ahead to warn other officers about the speeders. Police stopped Ruan at the Dayun toll gate, one of the highway's Shanghai exits. Ding, however, didn't stop for police at the gate. He continued driving until police caught up with him at a small auto repair shop in Tinglin, Jinshan district.

"The two young male drivers were accompanied by two young women. The Aston Martin driver intentionally took off his car's license plate before starting to speed," a police officer surnamed Ren told the web portal Zhejiang Online over the weekend.

Police fined Ding 2,200 yuan and Ruan 2,000 yuan and revoked both of their driver's licenses.

When contacted by the Global Times, Ningbo traffic police refused to comment on whether the two drivers would be charged with more serious offenses.

Qin Jianming, a lawyer specializing in traffic law from the Qin Jianming Law Firm, said that the fine is far from enough to deter reckless drivers.

"The 2,000 yuan fine is not enough to prevent wealthy young drivers from speeding on the highways. In China, speeding drivers are not usually prosecuted unless they cause a traffic accident," Qin told the Global Times.

Qin said Chinese law doesn't clearly state when speeding becomes reckless driving.

The drivers told police that they were on their way to the Super Club Challenge, an annual sports car event in Shanghai.