Trivia: Why red is Italy's racing color, and why green is Britain's

An interesting little story: Prince Scipione’s Itala, painted bright red for the race, fell into the harbour when it was being unloaded for the big event! To prevent rust, the car was repainted battleship grey…the only paint the harbour-workers had on hand at the time. If you’ve ever wondered why Italian race-cars are red today, it’s because after the Prince won the race all the way back in 1907, Italy adopted red as its official racing-colour and red remains that color to this day.
http://scheong.wordpress.com/2010/02/25/peking-to-paris-the-original-amazing-race/

This reminded me of the reason why green is the official racing color or British carshttp://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2006/11/british-racing-green.html
from 1903 when the British wouldn't allow the Gordon Bennett race to be held in Britain. Ireland was asked to hold the race on their roads, as a compliment to the Irish, all the English cars were painted a dark green.