A Tasmanian-built Nissan Skyline race car has gone viral on the social media platform Twitter after breaking the Mount Panorama Circuit top speed record and outpacing his competitors.

As part of last weekend’s Bathurst 12 Hour Motor Race, the support saloon category competed between the qualifying sessions for the main event, with 55 cars from various national competitions starting at the famous Mount Panorama circuit.

Uploaded in a video from the start of the race Twitter by Mark Whitelegge you can see the red Nissan Skyline coming out of the first corner in third place – but by the second corner the pursuer is almost half the length of the straight behind.

Since the video was uploaded on Sunday evening, it has been viewed more than a million times and liked by around 12,000 Twitter User. But what do we actually know about the car?

As detailed in the race broadcast, the Nissan Skyline will be driven by Bradley Sherriff and was built by his Tasmanian speed shop Racetech Performance.

Based on the R32-generation Nissan Skyline (built from 1989 to 1994), this example started out as a rear-wheel-drive GTS-T variant – not the legendary all-wheel-drive GT-R – but the ties to the road car all but end there.

In addition to a full roll cage, safety gear and aerodynamic bodywork, the GTS-T’s 2.0-litre turbocharged six-cylinder engine has been replaced with a 2.6-litre twin-turbocharged six-cylinder based on the GT-R ‘RB26’ design ‘, but made of billet rather than cast iron to withstand the extra force.

According to Racetech Performance, the Nissan Skyline delivers more than 870kW to the rear wheels – nearly double the claimed 440kW of the R32 GT-Rs that dominated the 1991 and 1992 Bathurst 1000.

The Nissan Skyline’s performance advantage over its rivals was highlighted in the Combined Sedans race, when it outperformed the purpose-built MARC 2 – powered by a ~450kW V8 engine – on the straight.

While leading the opening laps of the Combined Sedans race, Mr. Sherriff and his Nissan Skyline later crashed into a concrete wall, resulting in a Not Finished (DNF) result.

However, prior to Mr Sherriff’s fall at the end of the race, the circuit’s official timing system recorded the Nissan Skyline reaching a speed of 200 mph on the second straight of Mount Panorama – believed to be a record at the circuit, according to the motorsport publication Automatic action.

However, Mr Sherriff claims the speed of its skyline has caught the attention of Motorsport Australia – the governing body for motorsport across the country.

In a post on Racetech Performance’s Facebook Mr Sherriff says the car’s performance will be limited at future events after being contacted by Motorsport Australia – a change that would result in the Tasmanian opting not to race the Nissan Skyline.

“Thank you to everyone who got in touch and took the time to comment on the many posts I saw or the guys showed me about my car over the weekend. I’m genuinely shocked and humbled by the comments,” wrote Mr. Sherriff of Racetech Performance Facebook book page.

“It comes as no surprise that I have just been contacted by someone I respect very much at Motorsport Australia (MA) with concerns about the straight-line handling of our car and the power delivery of its engine. I can assure you that this week’s priority at MA is getting the car repaired and becoming a showpiece in the shop.

“I understand the safety concerns and the complications with speeds, but when you’re driving a car that’s based on a production Nissan and driven by a very ordinary driver who’s trying to compete with space-frame cars that weigh a lot less Competing with much more talented drivers is a game that becomes unattractive to me.”

A spokesman for Motorsport Australia said in a statement Automatic action, “There have been no changes to sports sedan regulations in terms of vehicle registration. Motorsport Australia may consider changes to ensure all vehicles are safe to compete at Australian circuits.”