From banned bad boy to Red Bull's next bright hope

Dan Ticktum didn't just take victory in the Macau Grand Prix - he also charmed everyone in the east. From the bad boy of racing, he has become one of its finest young ambassadors.

The Macau Grand Prix podium celebrations are concluding, as the winner beckons to the master of ceremonies: "…Oh, and a final word from Dan?"

"I just want to... I don't know, I think a lot of people will know, but yesterday there was a tragic accident and I said to you that if I do something special in this race, that race was for Dan obviously. It was absolutely shocking what I saw and may he rest in peace. No one should have to come and do your hobby, and for it to end like that is just shocking, so yeah... thoughts are with you, and friends and family and everyone."

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Author Marcus Simmons

Marcus Simmons is the Deputy Editor of Autosport magazine. As a child he was a regular on the chalk banks of Thruxton – hence his unhealthy obsession with 1970s Formula 2 and F3 – before he became an MSA timekeeper at the age of 17. At 19, his reporting debut for Motoring News arguably overshadowed Maradona’s ‘Hand of God’ goal as the sporting moment of June 1986, and he joined the staff in 1990 after graduating from his degree course in Plymouth. A parallel Formula First career – which was as incident-packed as his childhood exploits in show-jumping and hunter trials – finished when he wrote off his car and put himself in hospital in 1991.

Marcus moved to Autosport in the summer of 1996. Since then he has had two stints as a freelancer and a brief spell as editor of Motor Sport magazine, during which the revered green cover was revived, before he rejoined Autosport in 2008. He lives in Teddington with his wife (who, gratifyingly, grew up within earshot of Castle Combe), daughter, stepson, dog, cat and guitars, and additionally has an adult daughter and stepson.