▁to ▁arrive ▁in ▁Paris ▁was ▁Prince ▁Sci p ione ▁Borg h ese , ▁an ▁Italian ▁arist ocrat . ▁He ▁was ▁accompanied ▁by ▁Luigi ▁Bar z ini , ▁a ▁journalist ▁who ▁worked ▁for ▁The ▁Daily ▁Te legraph , ▁and ▁a ▁v alet , ▁E tt ore , ▁who ▁acted ▁as ▁his ▁mechan ic ▁and ▁tra ve led ▁with ▁a ▁supply ▁of ▁L anson ▁champ agne . ▁The ▁prince ▁was ▁so ▁confident ▁of ▁winning ▁that ▁he ▁took ▁a ▁det our ▁of ▁several ▁hundred ▁miles ▁from ▁Moscow ▁to ▁St ▁Petersburg ▁for ▁a ▁dinner ▁in ▁honour ▁of ▁the ▁team , ▁and ▁afterwards ▁head ed ▁back ▁to ▁Moscow ▁and ▁rejo ined ▁the ▁race . ▁Their ▁chief ▁rival ▁was ▁Charles ▁God d ard , ▁a ▁fair ground ▁worker ▁and ▁con ▁artist ▁who , ▁until ▁he ▁learned ▁of ▁the ▁race ▁from ▁a ▁sc rap ▁of ▁newspaper ▁he ▁found ▁blow ing ▁in ▁the ▁wind , ▁had ▁never ▁sat ▁in ▁a ▁motor ▁car ▁and ▁who ▁was ▁arrested ▁for ▁fra ud ▁as ▁he ▁approached ▁the ▁finishing ▁line . ▁▁ ▁God d ard , ▁who ▁came ▁second , ▁lack ed ▁the ▁resources ▁of ▁Borg h ese ▁and ▁had ▁to ▁beg ▁fellow ▁compet itors ▁for ▁fuel . ▁In ▁a ▁des perate ▁attempt ▁to ▁catch ▁up , ▁he ▁set ▁an ▁end urance ▁record ▁for ▁non - stop ▁driving ▁for ▁ 2 4 ▁hours . ▁The ▁prince ' s ▁prize ▁was ▁simply ▁a ▁mag num ▁of ▁M umm ▁champ agne , ▁and ▁the ▁red ▁colour ▁of ▁his ▁ 1 9 0 7 ▁It ala ▁car ▁was ▁adopted