Saguenay boys win 3rd Alternative Energy Rally

The third time was indeed the charm for Martyn Ouellet and Frédérick Bouchard at Quebec’s Alternative Energy Rally. The duo from the Saguenay—Lac-Saint-Jean region driving the number 1 Honda Insight for the Alma Honda team finally managed to get their hands on the first place trophy of this rally linking Gatineau to Montreal, with a stop in Mont-Tremblant, that ended in the pouring rain downtown.


The team also managed to maintain an excellent consistency average, only giving up 451 points after arriving 451 seconds behind schedule on a course totalling over 600 kilometres.

During the two-day event, the teams are forced to use country roads to get to their destination. Each day is divided into stages, and a precise time limit is set for every stage. Lateness is penalized, with 60 points deducted per minute.

But ultimately, lateness is not the only criterion used to determine the winner, as this eco-friendly rally is also meant to promote fuel-efficient driving. In the winners’ case, they managed to maintain a fuel consumption average under 5 litres per 100 km.

Second place went to Hydro-Québec representatives behind the wheel of a plug-in Ford Escape Hybrid, the only one on Canadian roads. Daniel Paré and Frédéric Prigge were in the lead at the end of day one, but a few navigational errors cost them the victory during the second half of the event.

Third place went to a team from Monaco, winners of a similar rally held earlier in Europe, Raymond Durand and Bernard Vialar.

Public awareness campaign
The race itself wasn’t the be all and end all of the rally, though. Throughout the event, St. Catherine Street in downtown Montreal was closed in order to exhibit some of the most recent technological advances in green motoring.