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They do have uses outside motersport, al large number of commercial airliners use them, as do most western military jets (I believe up to and including the Mig 29, the Russioan still used cast iron).
The reason that they aren't used on road cars is you need to use a lot of pressure to get them to work properly, and more importantly they have to opperate at a temperature of at least 500-600C to be effective. Road cars don't generate that kind of energy requirement.
I did read that the next SL Mercedes will feature ceramic rotor's (a la F1 safety car) and Lotus Elise's use Metal Matrix Composite (Silicon Carbide particles in Aluminium). I assume both of these are in the pusuit of reduced unsprung weight, as modern pads and cast iron do form a pretty effective friction surface.
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