The Rolex 24 at Daytona is just two weekends away, and 2016 kicked off with the Roar Before the Rolex 24 down in Daytona earlier this month.

With such a long event, it's important to get as much practice as possible, and teams took a preseason opportunity to get on the track to prepare for the 24-hour race. Roar is like the "dress rehearsal" before everyone arrives to put on the big show.

Some new cars were tested, including five Porsche 911 GT3-R's. One of those Porsches comes with Frikadelli Racing, a German team that's new to the circuit.

In 2005, Klaus Abbelen decided to start his own racing team, and in 2010 the team made the jump from amateur to professional. Abbelen also runs a food company, and that's where he got the nickname "Frikadelli," which translates to "meatball."

Frikadelli Racing's name was born from two passions — motorsports and food. Their first appearance at the Rolex 24 at Daytona kicked off with Roar.

After Day 1 of testing, the "fastest meatball in the world" was third among the new Porsche 911 GT3-R's. Its lowest ranking among the GTD class was 12 for the day.

The GTD class is looking like it'll be the largest and most diverse class in IMSA. Twenty-two cars were present in the class for Roar testing among six different brands of cars — Aston Martin, Audi, BMW, Ferrari, Porsche and Dodge — and almost every brand had a new model to test at Roar. The next largest class was the Prototype (13), then the GTLM (11) and finally the PC (8).

"We are extremely proud of this entry list for the Roar Before the Rolex 24, which foreshadows the entries for the Rolex 24 at Daytona later this month," IMSA CEO Ed Bennett said. "These entries represent a great balance of quality and quantity across all four of our classes and will make for fantastic racing when we kick off the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship on Jan. 30-31. We are pleased to welcome so many world class drivers, teams and manufacturer brands back to Daytona."

On Day 2, Meatball was the fastest among the Porsche 911 GT3-R's on the track. The team is working hard, and they commented on their Facebook page that it's not easy to adjust to a new race series with its own set of rules. But they're getting a lot of support from Porsche and their American partner Cole Scrogham.

"I met Klaus and Sabine at LeMans this past year, we had a great discussion about a possible cooperation over lunch," Scrogham said. "It's a great honor to also have the trust of Porsche with such a valued customer in Europe. While Frikadelli has been strictly a 'Ring team to this point, they have experienced technicians and drivers and are not new to this game. As the lead American 'meathead,' I hope to just give them a decent shot at a good finish by working within the technical and sporting regulations unique to American racing, and being clever with the race strategy."

The competition was fierce at Roar, according to Joerg Bergmeister, who's aiming for a fourth win at the Rolex 24 with another debut team, Park Place Motorsports. They're also competing with a Porsche 911 GT3-R.

"It would be nice to go home to Germany with another Rolex on the wrist," Bergmeister says. "That's definitely the goal — but there's a lot of competition with good lineups in GTD, with a lot of new combinations. It's definitely going to be exciting. I'm looking forward to running the full series. It's a great series with great racetracks, and it's always fun to race over here."

Frikadelli Racing completed Day 3 at Roar without even a scratch on their car. The drivers were happy, and their lap times were competitive. Their debut at the Rolex 24 will definitely be one to watch. So far, the team's driver list includes Sabine Schmitz, a favorite on the German circuit.

"Sabine is a fixture with Frikadelli Racing," Abbelen said. "We are absolutely excited that she has found a way to experience with us the famous race on the legendary Daytona International Speedway."

However, not only is Schmitz new to the Rolex 24 in America, she's also unfamiliar with the Porsche 911 GT3-R. Even though Frikadelli had great success at Roar, there are still risks that come with the uncertainties of new experiences.

But Schmitz has a stellar European resume, Abbelen isn't at all deterred.

"We were the best of the five new Porsche 911's, we ended each session between P3 and P6 and set a few fastest times in mid-session, which is more than we had expected," Abbelen said. "The Porsche was giving us no problems at all. We are now in a very positive mood for the race. If we manage to make little or no mistakes at all and finish the race, we might even achieve a top-5 ranking in our highly competitive category."

The Frikadelli Racing team encourages race fans to follow their news on Twitter @Frikadelli_R. They plan to keep followers closely informed about what's happening all season.

Practice for the Rolex 24 at Daytona starts Jan. 27, and qualifying takes place Jan. 28. The race starts Saturday, Jan. 30.

The Frikadelli Racing team is ready for its debut in the Rolex 24 at Daytona. (Photo: Facebook)