Accomplished karter Matthew Hayes will make his racing car debut at Phillip Island next weekend in the third round of the Shannons National Motor Racing Championships.

Hayes will put his years of karting knowledge to use in the V8 Commodore Cup, driving the Ray Beckerley-prepared VH Commodore before graduating to the later model VS later in the season.

Hayes has chosen V8 Commodore Cup to begin his car racing career in because of the affordable formula. Current and former V8 Supercars drivers and ex-karters who have raced in V8 Commodore Cup include Lee Holdsworth, Paul Dumbrell, Shane Price and Steve Owen to name a few.

Some of Hayes’ achievements in karting have been outstanding. He co-designed the successful Phoenix range of karts as well as winning six State titles and three City of Melbourne titles.

While Hayes will be one karter stepping up, there’s a couple of other karters stepping back at Phillip Island.

1985 and 1988 World Superkart Champion Poul Petersen will journey from his base in Denmark to compete at Phillip Island, while Trevor Roberts from the United Kingdom will also join the grid, having won the last-ever Superkart World Championship held in 1995, before the event reverted to the European Championship status in ’96.

Other classes at the Shannons event will be Australian Formula 3, Sports Racers, Saloon Cars and the Australian Manufacturers Championship, which will have its final hit-out before the inaugural ‘Australian Six Hour’ race at Eastern Creek.