The 9th Duke of Richmond and Gordon founded the racing circuit on his Goodwood estate and this 12 lap race is dedicated to him. One of the major events run at this circuit in the early 1950's was the Goodwood Nine-Hours for production sports cars. It was the only race run in the UK which continued into the hours of darkness. The same type of car would also have competed at Le Mans and included Jaguar C types, Aston Martin, Frazer Nash, HWM, Allard, Lotus 9 and MG.