The Dodge Viper makes its official motorsports comeback later this year when it will compete in the GT class of the American Le Mans Series.

In preparation of its comeback, the Viper race car, now in its latest 2013 SRT Viper GTS-R guise, has completed its first shakedown test at Carolina Motorsports Park in Kershaw, S.C.

SRT has been kind enough to post a video of the event on its YouTube page, showcasing one of its team drivers Marc Goossens behind the wheel.

Designed specifically to compete in the American Le Mans Series, the Viper GTS-R race car is a collaboration between SRT Motorsports and Riley Technologies and shares much in common with its road-going twin.

One key different is the engine, which in the GTS-R race car is an 8.0-liter V-10 as opposed to an 8.4-liter unit like the one found in the road-going model. Of course, weight is also significantly down compared to the road-going model, with the GTS-R's curb mass coming in at around 2,500 pounds thanks to plenty of carbon fiber in its construction.

After taking it out for the first time, Goossens explained how great a feeling it was to finally drive it.

“It responded in a very positive way; it was a pretty good first test that we had there,” he said.

SRT will field two Viper GTS-Rs in the American Le Mans series later this year, with Goossens being joined by Dominik Farnbacher, Ryan Hunter-Reay and Kuno Wittmer in the 2012 driver lineup. The team now has several more on-track tests scheduled before its first race event, expected later this summer. While this first stage of testing was to see that the car’s cooling, shifting and traction control systems were all working properly, the next stage focus on performance and durability.