Silly season for MotoGP is just beginning!

The MotoGP season may have finished out on the track in Brazil but that does not mean you will lose touch with your favourite sport.

This is the time of the year when riders and teams talk behind closed doors about their plans for the year 2002. This is the time of year when teams start testing next year's machines, especially with the arrival of the four-strokes.

So here's the latest news in brief, with full stories to follow...

* Ulsterman Jeremy McWilliams and Swedish rider Johan Stigefelt are talking to Kenny Roberts about joining his Proton KR machine next season.

* This year Dutchman Jurgen van den Goorbergh rode for the team but next year he will compete in the MotoGP Championship riding for Erv Kanemoto's new Honda team.

* This year 37 year-old McWilliams finished sixth in the MotoGP 250 Championship and won the Dutch TT riding for Aprilia. His German-based Aprilia team are still looking for a sponsor for next year. McWilliams has plenty of experience in the MotoGP class on both Aprilia and Yamaha machinery.

* Stigefelt rode the Sabre machine in the MotoGP 500 class this year but missed the final race of the year with an elbow injury.

* Roberts is also talking to British Superbike Championship star James Haydon.

* As expected Noriyuki Haga is returning to the World Superbike Championship after a disastrous season in the MotoGP 500 class. Haga will join Aprilia for their assault on the Championship next year while young American John Hopkins is expected to join Australian Garry McCoy in the Yamaha MotoGP team.

* It may not be the last we see of Haga in grands prix with Aprilia building a four-stroke to compete in the MotoGP class.

* The 1999 World 500 Champion Alex Criville will announce his plans for 2002 in the next few days. The Spaniard was dropped by Honda at the end of this season and is talking to a number of teams about next year. The favourite for his signature is the Spanish Yamaha MotoGP team run by former rider Luis D'Antin.