Bonjour mes ami! Yes we're back in France for the 14th time in TAR history and France now ties China as the country most visited by TAR USA. I rolled my eyes at the outcome of this leg as teams really struggled with navigation in the French countryside in the Dordogne region of France. Have we all become so reliant on technology that we are totally unable to use a map to navigate anymore? The results of this leg was determined by the ability (or lack of) by the teams to navigate their way from one location to the other rather than how they actually performed on the tasks. There is much to discuss but before I get into all that, let's look at the average statistics and see where the teams stand after this leg.
Average statistics after leg 7 in Domme, France
Marcus & Michael: 2.67
Derek & Claire: 3.16
Luis & Michelle: 4.16
Emily & Molly: 4.33
Quinton & Mattie: 5.33
Glenda & Lumumba: 5.5 (eliminated in Domme)
Aubrey & David: 6.83
Were Glenda & Lumumba doomed from the start?
Glenda & Lumumba had to start 15 minutes after the last group as they finished last in the previous leg in Amman, Jordan but were spared elimination. I don't like the idea of that though, it was an automatic penalty that left them at the back of the pack chasing. I would rather they used the speed bump instead, because it is possible for teams to complete a speed bump task quite fast if they had the right kinds of skills. If it was a puzzle that needed a lot of brains to solve, then the smarter teams would be able to breeze through that very quickly - or say if it was a physical task that required a lot of muscles, then the stronger teams (or simply those with a lot more determination) would be able to complete that a lot faster. The bottom line is, I like to give teams the chance to complete their speed bumps quickly rather than just hit them with a predetermined time penalty. This would have at least made Glenda & Lumumba's elimination less likely, though I think their fate was sealed the moment Glenda drove into a ditch and had to wait to be rescued by your local friendly French farmer with a tractor. Disaster was definitely averted, imagine if that ditch was even deeper. I'm just glad they were alright and no one got hurt: remember there was the camera crew in the car as well! I had flash backs to Brian & Greg from TAR S7 E6 when they crashed their 4WD in the sand, flipping the vehicle and injuring their camera in the accident. But with that accident, that meant the time deficit was just too much for them to make up. What a shame, they were such a lovely team and given how well they performed in the first two legs, I thought they were going to make it all the way to the finale. Thus I'm very sorry they were eliminated - they were an absolutely delight to watch on this season.
Was Glenda joking about the harness on her husband's body?
Well it was a jokeand nothing actually happened but I was reminded of TAR S29 E2 when there was a roadblock involving a harness like that in Sao Paulo when Samir's harness did slip and cause him an injury on his testicles. I did cover that incident in detail and I blamed the rigging crew for that - I'm sure they would have learnt their lesson from it!
How the heck did Marcus & Michael win this leg?
No disrespect to the brothers but this was certainly a surprise. Michael took three attempts at the roadblock when most other teams took only two attempts, then he left the keys to the car at the top of the tower. They only realized that mistake when they were almost back at the car park, thus effectively dropping them to the very back of the pack (only ahead of Glenda & Lumumba by the time they got out of that car park). Then somehow, they were the first team to turn up at the detour whilst the other teams didn't take the quickest route there. How did that happen? Let's turn to Google maps to see how difficult that journey was. The journey itself is 33.1 km (20.6 miles) and it would have been about a 33 minute drive. As I look at the map, the fastest route isn't that obvious - there is a myriad of small country roads in that area and so the obvious way to do this would be to stick to the main roads, even if it may not be the shortest route as the crow flies because if you tried to use the shortest route, you may end up on tiny country lanes with no signs and very few people to ask. At least on the main roads, there will be more signs and plenty of people to ask for help along the way. Thus Marcus & Michael effectively jumped from 6th to 1st simply by not getting lost and that gave them a lead which they managed to keep all the way to the pit stop, thus giving them a second win and maintaining their very strong average - they are the strongest team in this season so far. I'm disappointed at the way this leg turned out as I would have liked to have seen the teams who performed well at the tasks get ahead in this process rather than for it to boil down to a navigation exercise. So well done to Marcus & Michael, oh but I must admit I am really disappointed in the other teams.
What about the drive to the pit stop?
As for the drive from the detour to the pit stop, that was approximately 10.7 km (6.6 miles), this was a much shorter drive at just 21 minutes. How Audrey could have totally lost her cool was unreal - she effectively self-destructed under stress over what was a reasonably easy navigation task. Domme was the main town in that area so it would have been clearly signposted and the locals would know exactly where it was. The outcome of this leg seemed to have been determined by the teams' ability to navigate and how they had performed at the tasks was mostly irrelevant. At which point, I may hear some of you scream, "yeah Alex, I'd like to see you try that, I bet you'd get lost as well." Well I have lived and worked in France, I speak French fluently. My partner and I often go to France on holidays when we would get a rental car and explore the charming French countryside, yes I can use GPS to help me navigate my way around France but I get very car sick when I stare down at a phone screen in a moving car; thus I usually go old school and simply observe the signs along the way or I would ask the friendly locals for help. I'm older than these racers, I am 46, I didn't grow up with all this GPS technology so I am quite happy to read a map if I have to. But seriously guys, is it really that hard to read a map?
Should we give racers access to GPS by giving each team a cell phone?
I'm in two minds about this. TAR should be more than navigation and if the racers on this leg were better at navigation, then we wouldn't even be talking about this. But at the same time, this would really change the nature of the race as things are far less likely to go wrong between destinations (oh and that is part of what makes the race unpredictable); why not stop there and just drive the racers from one destination to another by giving each time a designated driver like they did in Jordan? And can I at least implore anyone thinking about applying to be on TAR to learn how to read a map?
Are the tasks on these legs French enough?
Yes I do think so, I'm fairly happy on that front for this leg in France. These old French castles can be very charming and I have lived in France, I'm quite used to visiting places like that but I suppose for the American racers, seeing something so historic and quaint must be a treat. There was a good mix of physicality, history, culture and strategy involved in those tasks but all that seems to be a moot point as the teams couldn't read maps and struggled to navigate on this leg. But geez, walnut oil is very expensive and should be saved for dressing salads and other fine cuisine, not for lighting lamps!
So who will win the next leg in Toulouse?
Statistically, Marcus & Michael are the strongest team so far and it would be the obvious answer to this question. The teams have to drive themselves to Toulouse - that's a drive of 171 km (106 miles) which will take about 2 hours 10 minutes depending on traffic. Would navigation play a big role in this leg? I hope not - Toulouse is the biggest city in that part of south-west France so it really wouldn't be that hard to find the main highway that leads to Toulouse. In the preview, we don't actually see any team really struggling - we see them do a rugby task which is a big part of French culture but there really isn't any sign of a team sailing through to victory. I'm just going to stick to the statistics and say that if Marcus & Michael don't win, then it would be Derek & Claire as they're the second strongest now. Again, a lot will depend on what kind of tasks await our teams in Toulouse, there are now no weak teams left at this stage of the season.
Who will be eliminated in Toulouse?
The obvious choice would be Aubrey & David. They struggled with the navigation in this leg and there was a lot of angry shouting in the car - it must be the stress and the fatigue of the race getting to them and I fear they might just self-destruct if this goes on. If not for Glenda's mishap with the ditch, the outcome might have been different. It's not that I am unsympathetic or unforgiving, but they are not coping as well as the other teams left and it is only going to get harder from here.They're statistically the weakest at the moment so it is hard to imagine anyone else going home in the next leg. Quinton & Mattie are the second weakest team but the key difference is that they don't fight as a team, they are much better at staying calm under pressure and working together. That could be a key difference in this process. Had Glenda not driven into a ditch, who knows Aubrey & David may have been eliminated given how much they struggled in this leg.
So guys, it is exactly two weeks before my trip to Abu Dhabi and Dubai and it hasn't even really sunk in yet. Like this time two weeks from now I would be flying already on my way there but work has been so hectic this week with a brand new project that I haven't even had enough time to think about what to do for the fun stuff apart from visiting all the attractions that were featured in TAR US, TAR Australia, TAR Ukraine, TAR France and TAR Asia when they have visited Dubai before. As always guys, please do let me know your thoughts by leaving a comment below and many thanks for reading.
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