• Date set for F1 customer car arbitration hearing
• GM contines with RML in WTCC
• Foggy-MV Agusta WSBK plan falters, team for sale
• US owner threatens track closure
• Cosworth flying after F1
• Father of drag racing passes away

A date has been set for the first hearing in the arbitration case brought by the Silverstone, UK based Spyker Formula One team against the rival Super Aguri and Toro Rosso over their use of customer cars in 2007.

The hearing, that will take place at the International Chamber of Commerce in Lausanne, Switzerland on October 9, is expected to be a preliminary hearing to that will determine a schedule for further hearings.

General Motors Europe has confirmed that its Chevrolet brand will for the foreseeable future continue to be represented in the FIA World Touring Car Championship by a team of Chevrolet Lacettis run by the Wellingborough, UK based Ray Mallock Limited organisation.

Chevrolet Europe's motorsport manager Eric Nève said, "The extension of the current agreement should be seen as a commitment by Chevrolet Europe to the WTCC, but also as the result of the constant increase of performance of our cars due to the excellent work of RML.

"The team have worked very hard over the past three seasons, each time finding steps forward, and will continue to do so over the coming winter as we prepare the 2008 campaign."

RML run Chevrolets have been raced in the WTCC since 2005 and in 2007 have enjoyed their most successful year with five race victories.

Plans for a team of MV-Agustas to be raced in the 2008 World Superbike Championship by Foggy Racing, the Burton-upon-Trent based organisation owned and run by former Superbike champion rider Carl Fogarty have been shelved through a lack of sponsorship funding and the team has been put up for sale.

Carl Fogarty, who won four WSBK championships said, "Everyone knows that this is a difficult time for motorcycle sponsorship. However, we hoped that the combination of my team with an iconic brand such as MV Agusta would have been an attractive proposition for potential sponsors both in the UK and abroad.

"Regrettably, despite the enormous excitement generated amongst motorcycle fans, this has not proved to be the case, leading us to the conclusion that the market will not support a professionally-run outfit of our size without significant financial input from a manufacturer.

"So I have decided to bring this chapter of my career to an end by putting our state-of-the-art facility at Burton, our race trailer and hospitality unit up for sale."

Bruton Smith, the owner of the American Lowe's Motor Speedway race circuit near Charlotte, North Carolina that holds two NASCAR Nextel Cup races each year has threatened to close down the facility in a row with the local council over his plans to build a drag-racing strip at the site.

Earlier this week Charlotte city councillors acting on the concerns of people living near the track voted through to a change local zoning regulations that effectively banned the building of a drag racing strips.

Reacting to the council’s action Smith threatened not only to close the LMS facility but to build a new track at another location in the Charlotte area.

Cosworth, the Northampton, UK company that was famous for its successful Formula One racing engines until the end of 2006, is enjoying a revival of its fortunes in the aerospace industry.

When Cosworth lost its last F1 customer in 2006 it laid off 200 people and speculation arose over the company's future but in the past year it has secured contracts for the manufacture of parts for aeroplane companies including as Boeing and Airbus that are expected to boost profits to £2.5 million.

Cosworth's chief executive, Tim Routsis, said, "The moves we've made into aerospace have actually gone a lot quicker than we expected. Since we really got stuck into it after we left Formula 1 the progress we've made has been terrific. People in the industry seem to like the Cosworth name and it gets us through the door very quickly.

"We're recruiting again and we've taken on about 20 extra people so far. We're still finding our feet in the aerospace industry, but I'd actually be disappointed with just £2.5 million next year.

"Last year, Cosworth learned a very painful lesson about being a one-trick pony, being totally dependent on the motorsport industry.

"We'd never say we wouldn't go into Formula 1 again, but I think we'd hesitate about putting ourselves in that same situation."

Wally Parks, the founder of the US National Hot Rod Association, the governing body of American drag racing died last week at the age of 94.

Parks is credited with moving drag racing from an outlaw sport to a safer, more controlled competition that remains one of the most popular forms of motorsport with spectators.

NHRA president Tom Compton said, "Words simply can't describe the immeasurable impact Wally has had on the sport he created and the millions of people's lives he touched along the way. The name Wally Parks is synonymous with drag racing, and his vision and direction will guide NHRA for years to come.

Everyone in drag racing, and the industries formed to service the sport, will forever be indebted to Wally, his vision, his focus and his desire to create, build and grow the NHRA."