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

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.

As you'll be able to see in the footage below, the limited steering angles do affect the mid-engined Audi's sliding abilities through the extremely tight corners, but it's hard to complain about it.

Graziano was caught on camera while manhandling the playful R8 at the Federal King of Europe - Italy Exhibition Match 2016 event, which took place earlier this month.

You don't need extra reasons to find satisfaction in watching the action in the footage below, but these are available. For one thing, the R8 never followed the Gallardo down the official, limited edition, RWD conversion path, which makes this racecar even more worthy of attention.

And while the father may not have his son's trophy cabinet, he certainly knows how to keep us on our toes while using the throttle to steer the V10 contraption.