SINGAPORE - A court ordered that a $630,000 Lamborghini be forfeited to the state on Thursday (Nov 9) after it was used in an illegal race in 2015.

Indonesian Kevin Pratama Chandra, 24, was behind the wheel when he committed the offence.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Tan Zhongshan said the forfeiture was mandatory under the law. He noted that the car, which was bought under the name of Chandra's parents' company, was used in an offence and that it had been seized by the police.

Chandra's parents, who were in court on Thursday, told The Straits Times that they were disappointed with the court's decision.

Their son was jailed for two weeks, fined $1,500 and disqualified from driving for 18 months after he pleaded guilty on July 17 to dangerous driving and taking part in an unauthorised speed trial. Two other charges for similar offences were considered during sentencing.

The court heard that traffic police officers were conducting an operation to detect illegal racing activities in Seletar Link at around 11.30pm on May 8, 2015, when they spotted about 20 high-performance cars entering the area.

Chandra, food and beverage manager Koo Kwok En, 37, and their friends were part of this group. The drivers then parked their cars on the left side of the three-lane road.

Koo, who was driving his wife's Nissan GT-R, asked Chandra to race against him and the younger man agreed.

About 45 minutes later, the officers saw the Lamborghini and the Nissan GT-R drive in Seletar Link towards Tampines Expressway.

The two cars made an unauthorised U-turn and faced Seletar North Link before positioning themselves beside each other.

Chandra gave a signal to start the race and the cars accelerated rapidly, to the cheers of spectators on the side of the road.

DPP Tan said: "Kevin and Koo were driving at very high speeds and competing to see whose car was faster.

"The in-car camera in the Nissan GT-R showed that its speed was 219kmh, which exceeded the speed limit of 60kmh. The Lamborghini was travelling at a similar speed."

The two cars slowed down, made another unauthorised U-turn and raced each other again. The officers then stopped the pair for dangerous driving.

DPP Tan said Chandra and Koo had taken part in a speed competition even though they did not have a police permit.

Koo pleaded guilty on March 28 to taking part in an illegal race, driving at a speed dangerous to the public and driving without insurance.

On April 13, he was jailed for two weeks, fined $2,500 and banned from driving for 18 months. His wife's car was forfeited earlier this year.

First-time offenders convicted of illegal racing can be jailed for up to six months and fined up to $2,000.

Those convicted of dangerous driving can be jailed for a year and fined up to $3,000.

Lawyer Rajan Supramaniam from Hilborne Law, who is familiar with such cases, said that when a car is forfeited to the state, it can possibly be scrapped or auctioned off later.