Goodwood’s tribute to the diminutive family car takes its name from the Duke of Richmond’s grandmother, who would tear around the Estate’s roads in her beloved Mini, one of the very first off the production line thanks to her husband, the 9th Duke of Richmond’s good relationship with Alec Issigonis, the designer of the original Mini.
“It was a bright-red Austin Seven with a steering wheel as big as the car! My grandfather loved it,” the 11th Duke of Richmond remembers fondly. “He was fascinated by clever, light, small-engined cars. It’s where his love for Lancia came from. But Betty loved the Mini even more and used to go hurtling around the Estate in it, to the extent that my grandfather wouldn’t let her venture outside the park.
"Thinking back, Betty was really the one responsible for my love of motorsport. She used to buy books on cars, which she then got my grandfather to give me. She also encouraged my grandfather to spend time with me at the circuit, taking me round to see the cars and meet the drivers. It was an eight-year old’s dream.