A DRIVER has admitted racing through city streets at 80mph with another car which then went on to hit and kill a pedestrian.

Richard Woolgar raced with Gavin Dawes along Lewes Road, Coombe Road and Warren Road in Brighton on January 10.

He pitted his Vauxhall Zafira against Dawes’ Vauxhall Astra at speeds of up to 80mph, undertaking other vehicles in bus lanes.

Dawes, who was then pursued by police, continued into the city centre, driving along the Old Steine where he hit and killed pedestrian Jonos Sasvari, 78.

He previously admitted causing Mr Sasvari’s death by dangerous driving as well as driving dangerously along Lewes Road, Coombe Road, Bear Road, Old Steine and Madeira Drive.

Woolgar, 35, of Donald Hall Road, Brighton, initially denied dangerous driving when he appeared at Brighton Magistrates’ Court in April but admitted his guilt on Tuesday at Hove Crown Court and was released on bail.

Dawes, of Phoenix Rise, Brighton, who was on bail for another dangerous driving offence at the time of the hit and run, was remanded in custody.

They are both due to be sentenced at Hove Crown Court tomorrow.

Dawes will also be sentenced for speeding away from police and hitting speeds of up to 60mph, narrowly missing a cyclist and prompting a pedestrian to jump out of his way on the evening of September 19 in Eastern Road, Brighton.

Judge Jeremy Gold previously warned him to expect to be sent to prison.

The 33-year-old did not stop after hitting Mr Sasvari in January, despite being pursued by officers, and carried on to Madeira Drive where he abandoned the car.

He handed himself into police the following morning, the court previously heard.

There is an ongoing investigation by the Independent Police Complaints Commission into the police role in the incident.

Mr Sasvari’s friends and former employers told The Argus he was “such a nice man” and “totally trustworthy” as tributes were paid following the tragedy. They said he always had a warm greeting for his friends in the betting shops he frequented in St James’s Street.

He came to England in 1958 as an 18-year-old. In the 1970s he worked at Churchill Steakhouse in Preston Street and later as a porter at The Atlantic Hotel on the seafront and as a kitchen porter in Mermaids chip shop in Western Road.