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Although the Amazing Race rankings are based on a formula, explanations as to which events during the race affected them are given along with those rankings. This means that for the less mathematically inclined, it’s not necessary to understand exactly how they’re calculated. But for those interested, the details are given below.

Calculation of race performance

There are various points during each leg where the teams’ order can be determined. This includes route markers, completion of a task and scheduled transport (e.g. plane flights).

The order in which each team arrives at each of these points is recorded, and teams are assigned points based on the order in which they arrive. First place gets 1 point, second place gets 2, etc.

In the case of scheduled transport, more than one team can receive the same number of points. For example, if there are two plane flights available, then each team on the first flight receives 1 point, and each team on the second flight receives 2 points.

The teams are ranked on the total number of points they received. The team who receives the lowest number of points is rated as the best team for that episode.  In the case of two or more teams being tied, the team that finished first will be ranked higher.

There are some additional elements involved in the calculation. If there is no change in the race order between two route markers, then the points from the second route marker are not included from the episode total.

The reason behind this is that sometimes there is no opportunity for one team to overtake another team between the two route markers. If both markers were included, then the gap between first and second place would now be 2 points, between first and third 4 points – in other words, the points difference is doubled, with the result that it’s harder for teams ranked lower to overtake the higher ranked teams as the points deficit becomes too large.

As a result of a similar line of reasoning, if there is just one change in the race order, then those points may not be included in the total. Whenever just a single change in the order occurs, a decision whether to include it or not is made by looking at the effect excluding it has on the totals.

This is a slightly subjective part of the rankings, but in practice the rankings work better this way. If there is more than one change in the race order between two points, then those rankings are always included.

If a team takes the Fast Forward, then from the point that they took the Fast Forward they receive their final position as the rank at each ranking point. In other words, if they take the Fast Forward and finish the leg first, they are regarded as having been in first place from the point they took the Fast Forward, and similarly if they finish in any other position.

Finally, a comparison between the finishing order of the current leg and the previous leg is incorporating into the points total.  If a team finished fourth in the previous leg and then second in the current leg, then their points total would be reduced by 2 (the differance between the two finishes).  Similarly, if they finish in a lower position then their points total will be increased.

This is mainly to reward teams who perform well during a leg of the race and make up a significant number of positions.  The later-starting teams for each leg are at a disadvantage when compared with the front runners, as there will be large difference between the intital points awarded (particularly in the earlier legs).  This adjustment goes some way to addressing that problem.

Overall rankings

The average finish position is simply that – an average of the position in which each team finished that leg of the race. The average episode performance ranking is an average each team’s position in the performance rankings for each episode, with a slight adjustment.

After a team has been eliminated, the performance rankings are recalculated to reflect their performance relative to the teams still left in the race. This means that if a team is ranked 6th in Episode 1, and in Episode 2 the team who was ranked 5th in Episode 1 is eliminated, then the team who was in 6th place is now regarded as being in 5th place in Episode, as only 4 teams were ranked higher than them.

The reason behind this is that after each elimination there are fewer teams left in the race. This means that if a team is ranked in 9th place for Episode 1 but are still in the race in Episode 10, then a simple average include the 9 in its calculation despite it not being possible for a team to be ranked 9th anymore.

The recalculation of the rankings relative to the remaining teams means that past performance plays less of a role in the calculation of the average performance. It also means that a team who experiences bad luck during an episode will not receive too much of a disadvantage on the rankings provided that they can recover in future legs.

In the case of two or more teams being tied, the team that finished first in the most recent leg will be ranked higher.

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