World champions attend Bologna Motor Show.

The Bologna Motor Show, held in Italy over the weekend, saw World Champions Valentino Rossi and Manuel Poggiali put in an appearance.

Rossi spoke about the testing he had carried out on the new Honda 4 stroke and his opinions on the new bike, whilst Poggiali talked about the weight he has put on since the end of the 2001 season.

Rossi caused a commotion at the Honda stand as fans crowded to see the 500cc World Champion and ask questions about the next season. The Italian talked about testing in Jerez and the new 4 stroke Honda RC211V.

"It is a new bike which has improved very much since the first time I tried it." Rossi told them. "The truth is that a lot of work must still be done because it is so new. I have spoken a lot with the technicians at the end of each session to explain certain things that the Japanese testers didn't dare say. They have taken note of everything and returned to Japan to work."

Rossi also spoke about his love for rally driving and his hopes to compete over the winter. "I like rallies a lot and I'm happy that I'll be able to race in a couple over the next few months," said Rossi. "For now though I have to concentrate on motorcycles, I'm still a bit young to be a rally driver. Most people take up the sport when they're a little bit older than me and, at the moment, I want to dedicate myself to the World Championship."

125cc World Champion Poggiali had a more official role posing for photographs and conduction interviews. He told the official MotoGP website: "I'm continually going from one side of Italy to the other and I'm starting to get a bit tired now," explained the youngster from San Marino. "I've put on 4 kilos to take me up to the 60 mark and now I hope to enjoy Christmas before the hard work starts next year. The tests in Jerez went well. I was looking forward to riding again and the new chassis we tried was impressive."

"It is too early to say whether we will use it or not because we have only tested a few kilometres at one circuit, but I think it is perfect and will be the one we use in 2002. We have also tried out a more powerful engine. I would say that everything is going well and we will continue working to find the most powerful weapon with which we can approach the new season."