The incident occurred on the afternoon of March 7, 2023, when the man was sitting in his Holden Commodore at the car park of his work on Gillies Street North.

The man was approached by Bobby Van Jarden, 38, armed with both a hammer and a 20 to 30cm knife, who demanded he hand over the vehicle.

A struggle ensued during which a window was smashed, raining broken glass all over the driver, who was then stabbed in the right hand as he defended himself.

The man slid out the passenger side door of the car as Van Jarden hopped in, taking the car out onto Gillies Street North and beginning a 20 minute speeding frenzy around Ballarat ending with his arrest.

Van Jarden appeared at the County Court in Ballarat on Wednesday from prison to plead guilty to charges of aggravated car jacking and dangerous driving.

The court heard the stolen Holden Commodore had front and rear dashcams, which captured the entire incident, before and after the carjacking.

When Van Jarden left the scene of the crime he sped onto Learmonth Road, with the passenger side door still open, narrowly missing a traffic island.

He then sped onto Norman Street, swerving into incoming traffic and yelling at himself about the incident.

Van Jarden kept increasing his speed in the stolen car, taking it out onto the Western Highway, where he reached a top of 164km/h.

During this time he overtook cars in the left-hand emergency lane and forced other drivers off the road side.

He continued to travel into Creswick, where he travelled through the township and continued onto Newlyn.

Var Jarden stopped outside of the Newlyn Primary School, where police were able to spot him and follow from a distance.

He then took the car onto the Midland Highway, where it began to slow down due to damage caused to the car's internals.

The court heard during the recording, Var Jarden blamed the car's issues on the police, and said "The jacks have cut the cruise control".

During this time Van Jarden was on the phone with an unknown woman - as the car began to run out of fuel Var Jarden asked the woman "where was the knife".

Police found Van Jarden pulled over and looking around the inside of the car.

He was arrested at the scene.

The victim of the car jacking was taken to the Ballarat Base Hospital where he was treated for a 1.5cm laceration to his right palm.

The stolen Holden Commodore was written off due to damage sustained during the theft.

The man attended Wednesday's County Court hearing to deliver a victim impact statement, where he detailed the psychological harm he had suffered as a result of the carjacking.

"The public and sustained act against the safety of my person has without reservation turned my life upside down," the man said.

"Due to my wounds I lost much blood. The memory of seeing my own blood covering a large area whilst speaking to family, colleagues and emergency workers is a distressing one.

"I experienced and continue to endure psychological injuries and associated challenges."

Van Jarden's barrister Jessica Willard detailed her client's history of abuse from a young age, early drug use, including regular heroin use by the age of 17, and experiences with homelessness.

Ms Willard argued the car jacking was "not the worst example" of the offence, as it was not done in the company of accomplices, and there was no firearm present.

Judge Liz Gaynor however said she considered the car jacking and subsequent joyride "extraordinary".

"His (Van Jarden) danger to the community is incredibly high," Judge Gaynor said.

"This is what he did, he attacked a man in the street, he drove off in his car and he drove in a way that imperiled the life of multiple people.

"Sometimes offending gets to such a stage and is so dangerous that protection of the community simply dominated the sentencing, and this is a perfect example."

Looking at Van Jarden's criminal and institutional history, Judge Gaynor said the system had "failed" Van Jarden early in his life.

"There are failures all along the way and unfortunately I deal with people like your client all of the time," Judge Gaynor said.

"Of course he is institutionalised, it is the only place he has external scaffolding, when he gets out he has nothing.

"There is a wholesale failure of our community to address the needs of those who are vulnerable and unprotected.

"Ultimately I am left with very little choice."

The matter will return to court on May 9 for sentencing, with Van Jarden expected to get multiple years in jail with a non-parole period.