sinycalone

And they are going to organize a race of their own...per their Twitter account. Now isn't that a surprise? Not. They were auditioning the entire time on TAR 32 for their futures in reality tv.

Regarding W/J's using the internet to research their next destination: I would imagine just about all teams do just that. In fact, it's probably so commonplace, they don't bother to include it in the episodes these days.

I'm not sure Gary was aware of all the behind-the-scenes hotel-isolation either. Like you said, many fans have no clue about the heavy restrictions -- even those who watch faithfully. Until I read the post-race interview with Alexander Rossi (Indy driver), a couple of years ago, I was not aware that they were virtually confined to their rooms for 24+ hours at times. I thought he was exaggerating. He wasn't. His partner, fellow driver Connor Daly, persuaded him to enter the Race...and I don't think Connor knew about the isolation. Alexander stated he would never do the Race again...he was that frustrated by the non-race aspects. I thought Gary grew the beard at the start of the pandemic.

The Alliance of 5 teams was a Survivor/Big Brother tool.....not something most of us want on TAR. For Superfans, they had to know that....but didn't care.

Gary and D did mention on Twitter (and I think on their podcast) that they were donating their money (if they won) to charities.

According to Gary/D's post-race interviews and their Twitter account, all the teams remained friendly enough to hang out, and to have group chats afterwards. Of course, after viewing the race on CBS, there might have changed, lol.

Gary and D are still good friends....check out their Twitter accounts. In fact, they were on good terms with the rest of the teams after the race....group chats, meet-ups, etc. (I wonder if after viewing the race on CBS they still have that attitude towards a few of the teams...like the VBallers, lol.)

But their wanting to work with one other team would have left the other two teams to either work together or individually...and with a chance to succeed.

Eat, Sleep, Mingle...included in the first 12 seasons of TAR. There was no isolation in those days.

I really think the ESM aspect had a more positive than negative effect on the racers. One of my favorite seasons - #12 - included a lot of downtime fun for the teams : swimming in the Adriatic, eating together in various cities, etc. Yet, that was a very competitive season. Whether they stopped the ESM because of one incident (sports bra - ha, ha I remember that) or because they wanted to minimize any personal interaction at all....it was a mistake. If the alternative was to isolate the teams wherever possible....where is the access to one of the major goals cited by most teams before the race: encountering new cultures, and learning more about them?

Another reason for the streamlining of flight arrangements: Each year during the past decade or so, airlines have been trimming the number of flights substantially. They wanted as few empty seats as possible. That means roaming around the airport for better flights is kind of fruitless in many locations. And could mean (as we've seen) some teams having to wait many hours for alternatives. Of course, during the pandemic airlines have implemented COVID-19-related safety measure that have reduced the number of seats even further.

According to Rossi, he and his teammate were literally not permitted to leave their rooms during quite a few pit stops. I would imagine, when they were in remote areas, the restrictions would be less stringent.

Until I read that post-race interview with Alexander Rossi....I was not aware they were isolated in their hotel rooms, either. I thought Alexander was exaggerating...but apparently not. I knew they were not permitted to go back for lost or forgotten articles after a leg was finished...even if the items were close by. I was also aware the eat, sleep mingle aspect had been eliminated (I believe after season 12). However, I thought they might be permitted to go out as long as they alerted production and were within a certain distance from their hotel (maybe as suggested for a Mountain Dew and sandwich). I think the only times racers actually intermingle during their down time is on long flights/bus rides/boat trips...and when forced to sleep outside a museum or shop due to HOOs. Gary has said he would do the race again for charity...and De might agree to it under those circumstances. If they had a "run for charity" race I would hope they would include athletes, writers, musicians, etc....but not pack it with actors.

If you will recall the two Indy race car drivers a few years ago....Alexander Rossi had the same issue with the race. He hated being cooped up in hotel rooms for as many as 24 hours in one stretch. That part of the race was extremely disappointing and frustrating for him. (His partner was not quite as upset). He loved the race overall...but would never do it again because he (like D) wanted to see more of the countries they were visiting, not spend endless hours in isolation.

From Gary on Twitter. Interesting: Gary Barnidge @garybarnidge· 1h @DeAngeloRB just for clarification we made an alliance with the Beard Bros after the 1st episode to get us two teams to the final which is why we say they didn’t keep their word. AND Not upset about any of that from the edit it may seem that way but we actually had an alliance after 1st leg with beard bros and didn’t know they turned on us til then. Plus he was upset with other things not deal with race and just boiled over