Macau Grand Prix record holder Michael Rutter on dating Stanley Ho’s granddaughter

Racing in the blood: I was born in 1972, in Wordsley, which is just inside the Black Country, in England’s West Midlands, a built-up, industrial area. I’m an only child. My dad, Tony, was a world champion motor­cycle racer and I followed him around the world when he was racing, going to lots of the circuits. He always wanted to go to Macau. For racers, it’s the end of the season and he never quite made it.

I first rode a bike when I was four, pottering around paddocks and fields on a mini bike. There are a lot of motor­cycle racers where I come from, because there are five or six circuits within 100 miles (160km), places like Donington Park and Silverstone. I didn’t enjoy school – I was useless at it and probably played up more than I listened. I wasn’t badly naughty, just disruptive. I only wanted to be around bikes. I wasn’t so bothered about racing, I was more interested in the mechanical side of it.

Collision course: In 1985, my dad had a massive crash in Barcelona, in the world championships. It didn’t finish his career, but it was near enough. When I was 16, I started riding his bike and ended up doing club racing. Because my dad was so good, everyone assumed I was going to be good, but it’s not like that – there’s a lot to learn.

When I started out, I couldn’t believe how bad I was, how difficult it was, but I stuck at it and got better and better. I got a job working in a motorcycle shop, which I enjoyed, and when I was 20 someone saw something good in me and offered to pay me to race full time. That was nearly 30 years ago, and I’ve been doing it ever since.

Shock and awe in Asia: I was 21 when I first raced in Macau. It was a shock coming to Asia for the first time. I remember taking the jetfoil from Hong Kong, I’d never been on anything like it. Arriving in Macau I wondered what I’d come to. We ate at Pizza Hut and McDonald’s, there weren’t that many options then. It’s amazing how Macau has changed.