Around the tracks December 4 2009

GREG Murphy is odds-on to be racing a Commodore for Paul Morris in 2010 after Castrol confirmed it is spreading its support to the Gold Coast crew next year. Castrol is continuing its support of Ford Performance Racing and Steven Richards, but Murphy is expected to be the oil company's hero driver in a fully-branded Castrol Commodore.

Glenn Allerton became the 2009 Australian Superbike Champion at the final round at Phillip Island last weekend, taking his Honda to the series win over Josh Waters on a Suzuki. The Supersports crown was claimed by Bryan Staring, riding a Yamaha.

SAUBER could continue in Formula One after a change of ownership which puts Peter Sauber, who originally sold his team to BMW, back in charge. Sauber is now trying to negotiate a deal which would give him the 2010 entry originally reserved for Toyota, which has joined BMW in withdrawing from grand prix racing.

THERE has been a name change for the top level of go-kart racing in Australia. The Australian CIK Karting Championship, for elite drivers and teams, will be known as the CIK Stars of Karting series in 2010.

TELEVISION coverage of V8 Supercar racing will get a major boost in 2010 with a new deal through the Fox Sports network in the USA. A delayed telecast of each V8 Supercar title round will be broadcast by Fox next year, introducing Australia's favourite motorsport category to a potential audience of more than 79 subscribers across America.

TWO of America's best motocross racers, Josh Grant and Davi Millsaps, have flown into Brisbane this week to face local hero Chad Reed in the final of the Monster Energy Super X championship. Reed is odds-on to take the Super X crown for the second year but organisers, faced with the loss of big-name drawcard James Stewart, decided to bring Grant and Millsaps to the grand final to put some extra interest into the event.

CRAIG Lowndes is hoping to go one better than his team mate Jamie Whincup in this year's running of the Australia's Greatest Athlete competition on Channel 7. Whincup was runner-up in the inaugural event but Lowndes faces rivals including footballers Billy Slater and Wendell Sailor, as well as world ironman champion Shannon Eckstein.