On the grid: Eco-marathon cars

Competitors race at the Shell eco-marathon 2009. More than 200 teams from 29 countries will battle for the €1,000 (£895) prize Photograph: www.reckimages.com/Shell

The best cars could travel the entire length of Britain five times on a single gallon of petrol Photograph: www.reckimages.com/Shell

A car built by Lycée Louis Pasquet, Arles Photograph: www.reckimages.com/Shell

An ethanol prototype from the Institut Universitaire de Technologie d'Aix-en-Provence Photograph: www.reckimages.com/Shell

A technician at work. The annual green car rally is the biggest of its kind in the world Photograph: www.reckimages.com/Shell

Each prototype vehicle is judged on how much fuel it uses to complete eight laps of the EuroSpeedway circuit Photograph: www.reckimages.com/Shell

The urban concept hydrogen car built by Team Schlucksspecht from the University of Applied Sciences in Offenburg, Germany Photograph: www.reckimages.com/Shell

The cars have to do the full course in under 51 minutes and each team gets four attempts to use as little fuel as possible Photograph: www.reckimages.com/Shell

From the top: Car number 15, a diesel prototype built by the Lycee Technique Provincial Richard Stievenhart, Belgium Car number 81, a petrol gasoline prototype from the Burg Giebichenstein University of Arts Design Halle, Germany Car number 120, petrol gasoline, IES Leonardo da Vinci, Spain Number 128, petrol gasoline prototype from the University of Central Lancashire Photograph: Shell

The prototype cars on the grid Photograph: www.reckimages.com/Shell