The 24-year-old Dunlop man's car has now been seized and he'll be facing court over the incident. It happened after a horror weekend on Canberra's roads during which three people lost their lives in 48 hours. One of those fatal accidents happened about a kilometre from where this man was stopped.

Police said officers were on patrol in Florey about 8.30pm on Sunday when they saw a black BMW 323i sedan accelerate away from them at speeds of up to 161km/h in the 80km/h zone of Ginninderra Drive.

The driver was stopped as directed by police, and told officers he thought the police were "his mates trying to race him".

"The driver confirmed to the officers he was attempting to race their fully-marked police vehicle and stated he had only recently regained his licence having previously lost it for speeding," police said in a statement.

"Due to the admissions made by the driver that he believed he was participating in a street race, his vehicle was seized."

The driver, who was a provisional license holder, will face court on a date to be fixed. He is facing significant fines and the potential loss of his licence.

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Acting Inspector Steve Booth said he was dismayed by this incident after three fatalities had been recorded on ACT roads in the preceding three days.

"It is difficult to express my incredulity at driver behaviour like this example," Acting Inspector Booth said.

"Less than 48 hours before this incident, about a kilometre down the road, my officers and I spent several hours attending the scene of a crash where a man had died".

"While the investigation into that incident, and two other deaths since Thursday night are still progressing, I would be very surprised if excessive speed was not a major contributing factor in all three cases".

"I have a simple message to drivers, and it does not change. Slow down."