In brief, September 2008

Three-time Formula 1 World Champion Nelson Piquet is to return to racing in the Brazilian GT3 Cup. The 55-year-old, who hasn’t raced since early 2006, has bought a Ford GT for the series and is scheduled to race for the first time at Rio di Janeiro in September.

BMW’s new M3 GT2 racer is up and running. The V8-engined car, which will be fielded in the ALMS by Rahal-Letterman Racing, will continue to test in Europe until October.

A World Touring Car Championship round on the streets of Marrakech will bring international motor sport back to Morocco for the first time since the 1958 Casablanca Grand Prix. The race is scheduled for May 3 next year.

Chevrolet has admitted that it could downscale its Corvette race programme for next season. An assault on the Le Mans 24 Hours with a warm-up in the Sebring 12 Hours in March could be the extent of its programme.

A coupé version of the Panoz Esperante GT2 racer made its debut at the Lime Rock ALMS round in the hands of the factory-backed Prototype Technology Group team. The new body shape offers more downforce for less drag.

IMSA has taken over the sanctioning of the Atlantic Championship in the US. The move is likely to be a precursor to the Mazda-powered one-make single-seaters joining the ALMS schedule for a minimum of six races next season.

The Aston Martin Vantage GT2 is scheduled to make a belated European debut at the Nürburgring Le Mans Series race in August. James Watt Automotive, which non-started with the works muletta car at Barcelona earlier this year, will field its own car in the final two LMS races.

In Parting Shot last month we said that the 1969 Spa 1000 Kms was won by Jo Siffert and Pedro Rodriguez. In fact it was won by Siffert and Brian Redman, the latter setting a new lap record with an average speed of over 145mph.