A number of Lamborghini teams recently pitched in to collectively prepare for the debut of the Huracán GT3 in the GT Daytona (GTD) class of the 2016 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.

With the new Huracán GT3 not quite ready, the Austrian-based Grasser Racing Team provided a GT3 it raced this season in the European Blancpain Sprint Series for teams to get a taste of the car in the WeatherTech Championship.

Top Lamborghini Blancpain Super Trofeo North America team Change Racing fielded that car for German-based Konrad Motorsports at the recent HSR Classic 24 Hours at Daytona, in preparation for the Konrad team to compete in the four 2016 Tequila Patrón North American Endurance Cup races.

Change Racing then prepped the car for the two-day WeatherTech Championship open test at Daytona, allowing drivers including Bill Sweedler, Townsend Bell, Corey Lewis, Justin Marks, Richard Antinucci, Bryan Sellers, Madison Snow and Bryce Miller the opportunity to experience the GT3 at Daytona.

“We learned a lot,” said Robby Benton, owner of Change Racing – one of four American teams awaiting its new car for a WeatherTech Championship debut season in 2016. “It was our first opportunity to work with the GT3, and our first opportunity to run a sports car at Daytona. Everything I’ve ever done at Daytona was four left turns only. It was good to see how everybody sets their things up, and we got to work with the car.”

Last weekend, Change Racing ended the year at Sebring International Raceway, where driver Corey Lewis backed up his 2015 Lamborghini Super Trofeo Pro-Am championship by winning the final two rounds of the North American series on Friday in a Huracán LP620-2. After finishing second in the opening two rounds at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, Lewis won 10 straight races to win the title by 88 points. Change Racing finished second in the team championship to O’Gara Motorsport, 150-129.

Lewis went on to win the Lamborghini Trofeo World Final, sweeping both weekend races at Sebring. Change Racing was then among the teams staying over at Sebring for additional testing with Grasser Racing’s Huracán GT3.

“We were happy with the car at Daytona,” Benton said. “It was more of a reconnaissance mission for us than it was a test. Everybody has different agenda down there at the winter test. For us, we just wanted to get our drivers some seat time, run some laps in the car, making sure we didn’t have any problems we need to correct before we come back for the Roar test (at Daytona on Jan. 8-10).”

While awaiting his car, Benton is now firming up his 2016 driver lineup.

“We have a few reasons why we waited, and hopefully it all pans out to be a good decision,” Benton said.

The biggest positive takeaway from the test was the smooth transition from the Huracán LP620-2 to the Huracán GT3.

“There are a few big differences, and I’m sure we are going to have some eye-opening stuff that will hit us at the Roar and when we come back for the Rolex 24, but overall it was mild,” Benton said.

“We’re taking it one step at a time, asking a lot of questions. We’ve got some very good teammates in the paddock, too. Paul Miller Racing obviously knows its way around the paddock and they’re been a big help, and we’re entering in with one of our sister teams from the Trofeo series with O’Gara. Also Franz Konrad may not be a veteran when it comes to the full-time IMSA season, but he’s run quite a few Rolex 24s and he knows what he’s doing. It’s good that within the brand we’ve got quite a bit of support with our teammates.”

Change Racing is the sports car division of Benton’s RAB Racing with Brack Maggard, a team Benton founded in 2005. Over the years, RAB has fielded cars in all three of NASCAR’s national series in addition to ARCA competition.

The team has four pole positions in addition to winning the 2010 NASCAR XFINITY Series race at Montreal’s Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, where Boris Said beat Max Papis in a photo finish. Other drivers for the team included John Wes Townley, Justin Marks, Chad McCumbee, Scott Riggs, Ken Schrader and Kenny Wallace.

“I’ve got a lot of experience at Daytona, but not in sports cars,” Benton said. “I know how to get to the track, I know where the tunnel’s at and I know how to get to pit road. That’s about all we’ve been able to translate so far.”

Working with the new car in a collective effort at Daytona and Sebring was a giant first step for Change Racing – and the other teams looking to roll out the Huracán GT3 in the 2016 Rolex 24.