Darrell Cartrip: "The dirt is supposed to be the great equalizer in this race." Brent Mustangburger: "French rally car Raoul ÇaRoule is counting on a big boost headed through there."
—RSN commentators about Raoul ÇaRoule
Raoul ÇaRoule (pronounced "raool sarool") is a character in Cars 2.
Known as the "World's Greatest Rally Car," #6 Raoul ÇaRoule was born in Alsace, France. A restless soul, Raoul joined the famous Cirque du Voiture French circus where he learned Gymkhana – a graceful, drift-filled motorsport that taught him pinpoint timing and an unparalleled ability to navigate tricky courses with ease. He's the first car to ever win nine consecutive rallies. Raoul is confident he can use his rally experience to pull ahead of his fellow World Grand Prix racers during the three courses' touchy dirt sections, especially with his fans in the stands waving banners that read, "ÇaRoule Ca-Rules!"
In the movie, he competes in all three World Grand Prix races, firstly, finishing in 8th place in Tokyo. In Porto Corsa, he was seen in the back of the pack for most of the race and was one of the many racers who were involved in a huge pileup near the casino bridge. In the race in London, he was seen mostly in 10th place, ahead of Rip Clutchgoneski. He also appears in the Radiator Springs Grand Prix race near the end of the movie, where he's seen in the top 5.
According to The Art of Cars 2 concept art, Raoul ÇaRoule was originally going to be sponsored by Vitoline. However, he was supposed to be a blue 2006 Citroën C4 WRC. The French rally racer character in Cars 2 (that ended as Raoul ÇaRoule in the final film) was first supposed to be a female car, named Michèle, in allusion to Michèle Mouton, that finished second in 1982 in WRC. After the character was changed to a Sébastien Loeb-inspired racer, he was first named Sebastien, with whom he shares a similar backstory and the same car.
Trivia[]
Raoul ÇaRoule is a reference to French rally driver, nine times WRC winner Sébastien Loeb, with whom he shares a similar backstory and the same car.
According to the Meet the Cars book, Raoul is a 2006 Global Rally Car Racer. The year 2006 is an allusion to when the Citroen C4 WRC was introduced at a Paris car show in 2006 before making its first debut race in 2007. During the production of the film, Citroën contacted Pixar complaining Raoul looked too much like their hatchback. Character art director Jay Shuster had to make a diagram of the character pointing out all the differences, and how the cars weren't the same.[2]
Raoul is the only non-speaking World Grand Prix racer to not have his engine blown.
On Raoul's sides and hood is written GRC (Global Rally Championship), which is an allusion to the real-life WRC (World Rally Championship).
On his tires is written "Rouler Vite", which litteraly means "Roll Fast" in French, or more in context, "Drive Fast". A smaller inscription gives his tire code, P210/70R18 99S.
Raoul, Lewis and Lightning at the World Grand Prix welcome party.
The French rally racer character in Cars 2 (that ended as Raoul ÇaRoule in the final film) was first supposed to be a female car, named Michèle,[4] in allusion to Michèle Mouton, who finished second at the WRC in 1982.[5] And when the character was changed to a Sébastien Loeb-inspired racer, he was first named Sebastien Citroen.[4]
Raoul's last name, ÇaRoule, means "it rolls" in French. It is a colloquial expression that can be used to say "everything is well", or "it goes fast."
According to Raoul's specs, his engine is a 1.6-liter turbocharged 4-cylinder with 300 horsepower making him a 2011-spec rally car since these engines were not used by WRC cars until 2011. The Citroen C4 WRC uses a 2.0-liter engine with 315-320 HP.
