HMC Ducati's Pascal Picotte is impressed with his new 998 Testa Superbike. "There's a lot of potential in there," he says. "It put a smile on my face to be on competitive equipment. It's doing exactly what I expect a competitive motorcycle to do ... on the brakes, at mid-corner it wants to hold the line pretty good, and it has a tremendous amount of power. It feels good to be on a competitive motorcycle again."

After seven years away from Ducati, Picotte returns to a radically different machine. "The bike is way different than it used to be," he says. "The riding position is different and the bike has way more power than it used to. I'll take my time and get comfortable on it until I can really push hard."

Picotte was on pole on the Ferracci Ducati the last year he rode for the team in 1994 and has a history of doing well on the 3.56 mile Florida track. "Daytona has always been good to me. I won on the 600 in 1997. Even on the Harley in '98 I did pretty good."

Does Pascal think he has a shot at race wins and the championship this year? "Definitely. It's been proven that it's one of the best bikes in the world. Plus last year's World Champion Troy Bayliss was wearing the number 21 and maybe it will bring me luck this year."