In brief, November 2008

* Former Indy 500 winner Dario Franchitti will return to the IRL Indycar Series in 2009 after a disappointing attempt to break into the NASCAR Sprint Cup. The 35-year-old Scot will join Chip Ganassi Racing in place of Dan Wheldon, who found a berth at Panther Racing, the team with which he started his IRL career.

* Zytek prototypes will be rebranded Ginettas after LNT Automotive, owner of the British sports car marque, bought into Zytek Engineering. The first Ginetta-Zyteks were due to race in Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta in early October.

* A Ginetta-Zytek hybrid project has been announced. The US Corsa Motorsport team plans to run a pair of Ginetta LMP1s in next year’s ALMS using Zytek petrol-electric technology. The first car was set to race in the last two events of this year’s series at Road Atlanta and Laguna Seca.

* BMW’s 2009 ALMS contender has broken cover. The new V8-engined M3 GT2, which Rahal Letterman Racing will run, was caught on camera when it ran at the EuroSpeedway Lausitz in September.

* Chevrolet will sign off from the GT1 category after next year’s Le Mans 24 Hours. The GM brand will race its Corvette C6.R in the Sebring 12 Hours, the Long Beach ALMS round and then Le Mans. It will then start a selected programme of ALMS events with a new GT2 version of the C6.

* Audi has come clean on plans to develop its R8 supercar for racing (see May issue). The R8 will be developed for customers to race in GT3, with deliveries starting next autumn. The project, which will be run in conjunction with the Abt team, can be regarded as the first step towards Audi taking on Ferrari and Porsche in GT2.

* International motor racing is on target to arrive in Bulgaria. The driving force behind the Bucharest street circuit, which hosted rounds of the FIA GT Championship in 2007-08, is in negotiation with city authorities in the Black Sea resort of Varna about building its own city track.