At Sebring last year the SRT Viper squad really began to show their outright speed for the first time. While it took a few more months before they were in victory lane at Road America – the pace here in Florida was a clear indication of what was to come.

Dominik Farnbacher and Marc Goossens triumphed in that Road America race and were the top ranked Viper squad at season’s end in fifth place in the championship.

The German/Belgian duo – along with former IndyCar champion Ryan Hunter-Reay – finish third in the opening race at Daytona and are now looking to continue those strong performances as they arrive here in Sebring.

“I haven’t been here for the test so it’s important for me to get some quality time in the car, but it’s very hard to get that time when there’s so many red flags in such a short amount of track time,” Farnbacher said.

“So we try to improve the car at the same time as adjusting to the conditions. Today it was very cold and we didn’t expect that, so we’re trying different tire compounds and we found it’s important to really get in that window when the tires work but sometimes finding that window is difficult.

“It’s really difficult conditions and on top of that it’s very greasy. There are all types of different compounds from the last tests and past races. I think it was important also that Ryan (Hunter-Reay) got some track time. He has not been here in the Viper.

“He just drove a few laps and he had some problems with the traffic. So it really comes down now to the final two practice sessions. We’re smart enough to find something that works fine for us. We’ve already looked at the data and we know what we have to improve.”