Peter Baron came away from the Roar Before the Rolex 24 At Daytona very pleased with the performance of his Starworks Motorsport two-car team in the opening IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship event of 2016.

The fact that his cars were first and third atop the final Prototype Challenge (PC) speed charts was icing on the cake.

“It was a crazy event – this was the least amount of stoppage and the most amount of running ever for us at the Roar,” Baron said. “We had around 380 laps on one car. We got through a ton of things. We got all our drivers comfortable and got lots of good setup information. Normally, you’re just hoping to get everybody comfortable and you don’t get much time for testing, but we went through all our plans and got to try out a lot of new things on the cars.

“It was a super test.”

IndyCar driver Jack Hawksworth led PC with a lap of 1:42.118 (125.502 mph) in Sunday’s final session, driving the No. 8 Automax USA ORECA FLM09 he shares with Alex Popow, Renger van der Zande and Chris Cumming.

Felix Rosenqvist was second in the final session and third overall, running 1:42.458 (125.085 mph) in the No. 88 Popcorn Sutton entry co-driven by Mark Kvamme, Sean Johnston and Maro Engel. Rosenqvist, of Sweden, is the reigning European Formula Three champion and the only two-time winner of the Macau Grand Prix, while Engel, of Germany, won the Macau Grand Prix GT Cup.

Starworks also was first and second in Saturday’s night practice, while Engel posted the fastest PC lap of the day on Saturday morning.

Now, Baron is looking forward to his 17^th time participating in the Rolex 24. While he’s won his class in the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Fueled by Fresh From Florida, Petit Le Mans powered by Mazda, Watkins Glen International, Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Baron has yet to win the Rolex 24, although his team finished second overall in both 2007 and 2012.

“I’ve won at all the major endurance races except for Daytona,” Baron said. “Hopefully, this will be it. This is the first time I’ve to the 24 with two cars and only four drivers in each car, with the lineup already set. That’s refreshing.”

Following the Roar, both cars returned to Starworks’ headquarters in Fort Lauderdale, where they were stripped down and new engines are being installed.

“We’re putting in new suspension pieces, with a lot of detailing and new wiring going into the cars,” Baron said. “We’re focusing on reliability components. This is the most ‘ahead of the game’ that we’ve been going into the Rolex 24. Our plans were well-sorted in early December, and that’s been a big help getting all the equipment, parts and pieces ready and here in time, avoiding last-minute shipping, rushing and guys working weekends. All in all, it’s looking pretty good right now.”

Baron is also finalizing his strategy for the race.

“Reliability was the big theme in PC last year, and I think all of the cars that made it to the finish was limping home,” he said. “This year, I think the first and foremost thing is managing the car. There have been a lot of developments to the reliability to the engine. I think the reliability will be there, now we’re going through the process of working with our drivers. I think the car is there, we just don’t want to lose the race. There are a number of cars that can win. The first step will be to get to the 23^rd hour with the car intact and working, so we’ve been drilling it in all our drivers’ heads that this could be the year. Managing the car and managing the reliability are the most important things.”