Audi R8 Drift Car with RWD, Hydraulic Handbrake Raced by Valentino Rossi’s Dad

Ever wondered what Graziano Rossi (you know, Valentino Rossi’s father) drives? This question obviously has multiple answers, one of which has to do with an Audi R8 V10 drift car.

Now 62, the former Grand Prix motorcycle road racer obviously enjoys spending time on the track, and as it turns out, he loves to do so while going fully sideways.

Given the man’s history, we’re not even all that surprised to see him behind the wheel of the oddball Ingolstadt machine.

We’re dealing with a first-generation R8 V10 packing a manual gearbox. The 5.2-liter supercar has not only lost its AWD in the name of slip angles, but has also had its mechanical handbrake ditched in favor of a hydraulic setup.

The R8 thus joins an uber-exclusive drift car club involving machines such as a Lamborghini Murcielago, a Lexus LFA and a Ferrari 360 Modena. Oh, and let’s not forget Pennzoil’s Dodge Challenger Hellcat drift machine, or Shane Lynch’s Rolls-Royce sliding machine.

In a similar fashion to the 360 and unlike the Murcie and the LFA, this R8 has skipped the wide-angle steering rack that’s usually found on drift-destined racecars.