Toyota Prius Plug-In Hybrid crowned champion at 2011 Rallye International Vert de Montréal

The third annual Rallye International Vert de Montréal was the only Canadian stop on the FIA Alternative Energies Cup calendar. With travelling over 600 kilometres, the participants and their vehicles are put through their paces to see who can be as fuel efficient as possible, using alternative fuels such as electricity, propane, biofuel and diesel.

There were 21 vehicles entered in total, all from the likes of different manufacturers, including Mitsubishi, Chevrolet, GMC, Ford, Honda, Toyota and Porsche, racing their most eco-friendly offerings for the title and bragging rights. The winner was decided based on who could maintain an average speed of about 50 km/h and the best fuel economy.

After two days of driving, a Toyota Prius Plug-in Hybrid driven by Vinh Pham, an engineer working for Toyota Canada, and his navigator Peter Nytko were crowned the champs. They had managed to complete the entire event averaging just three litres of fuel for every 100 kilometres and stayed fairly close to the target speed as their time of completion varied by only 5 minutes and 37 seconds. An amazing feat when considering how many different factors could affect your final score – stop signs, traffic, 90 degree turns and rough terrain.

Pham and Nytko were overjoyed with the outcome, and with good reason to be as the Automobile Club de Monaco has set up an exchange program to allow the winners of the Montréalevent to compete in the 6th Rallye Monte-Carlo des véhicules à énergie alternative in March 2012.

Click past the jump for the complete results and don't forget to check out the high-res image gallery.