 The then Lord Mayor of Melbourne Harold Gengoult Smith suggested that an air race should be organised from London to Melbourne, and £15,000 of the gift was allocated as prize money, to which Robertson agreed, on condition the race was named after him and was as safe as possible.The MacRobertson Centenary Air Race was duly organised and attracted international entries from many well known fliers of the day.The race started at RAF Mildenhall, Suffolk, England, and 2 days, 23 hours, 18 seconds later, at 3.34 pm, on 23 October 1934, the de Havilland DH.88 Comet, "Grosvenor House", piloted by C.W.A.