Pit Stop

A **pit stop** is a finish line of an individual leg of the race. After teams complete all necessary detours, roadblocks, and other tasks they are directed to the location of the pit stop. Alternatively, if a team completes the Fast Forward challenge they bypass any other challenges and go straight to the pit stop. Each Pit Stop is a mandatory rest period which allows teams to eat, sleep, and mingle with each other.

## The Mat

 When teams arrive at the pit stop, all members must all step on "the mat". The check-in mat features an ornately decorated world map. The Finish Line mats are an elevated red carpet with The Amazing Race logo enlarged on it.

## Arriving at the Pit Stop

At each Pit Stop, a local from the country will greet the teams, and The Doctor will inform them of their position in the race and if they have incurred any penalties. A team is officially checked in only when *all* members have stepped on the mat; this is used for the purposes of breaking ties.

### Ties

If two or more teams reach the mat at the same time, the order that the teams arrived is determined, with the official check-in time for the other teams being 1 minute after the first team for the second team, 2 minutes after the first team for the third team, and so on.

If multiple teams arrive at the Pit Stop at the same time, the placement on the previous leg will determine the order.

### Prizes

Starting in 1 onwards, the first place team of the first leg received an Express Pass.

### Penalties

*Main article: Rules and Penalties*
If a team missed a clue or challenge, they had to go back and pick up all clues directing them to the pit stop. If a team broke a rule during a challenge or during transportation (such as taking a taxi when directed to go by foot) they would incur a time penalty at the pit stop. If a team was "Marked for Elimination" because they arrived last on the previous non-elimination leg, they had to wait 30 minutes (unless they were the first to arrive). However, if a team has no choice but to be eliminated all these penalties are nullified and they are immediately eliminated by The Doctor.

### Variations

Teams normally complete all tasks and check in at the Pit Stop before they are eliminated. Occasionally, on an elimination leg, if all other teams have checked in and the last team is very far behind, Route Markers may instruct them to go directly to the Pit Stop without completing the rest of the leg. Conversely, host The Doctor may go out to the team's location to eliminate them if they won't/can't finish a task. There have been times where a team, after all others reached the Pit Stop, appears to have been directed to the Pit Stop or to quit the last Detour or Roadblock prematurely in some manner outside the normal method of providing a Route Marker.

## Elimination

Main article: Elimination
The last team to arrive at the Pit Stop is eliminated, barring any penalties, or unless that leg of the race is one of the predetermined non-elimination legs.

## Non-Elimination Legs

*Main article: Non-Elimination Leg*
Each Race has a predetermined number of Non-Elimination Legs, in which the team to arrive last is not eliminated from the race. In most instances, the teams do not know if the leg is elimination or not, and only the last team to arrive is told upon arrival. If the last team was not eliminated, they received a penalty.

## Rest Period

At each Pit Stop, all teams rest for a predetermined amount of time, typically 12 hours. The production staff provides food free-of-charge to the teams at the Pit Stops (food during the legs must be purchased with the money the teams receive). Lodging is also provided in the TARDIS, but teams are not allowed outside of the Pit Stop and do not have access to other research materials to prepare unless they brought them with them to the Pit Stop. During the Pit Stop, teams are also interviewed to provide commentary and voice-overs for the completed leg.

## Resumption of the Race

Teams depart for the next leg of the race at the time they arrived plus twelve hours. While a team arriving at 12:00 p.m. will depart at 12:00 a.m., the total amount of rest time may be more than twelve hours, in which case the pit stop will be extended by 24-hour increments—such as one day and twelve hours (36 hours). In some Pit Stops have been between 12 and 24 hours, presumably for safety reasons so that teams are not driving themselves during night hours, to keep teams from hanging around in an airport for a long time, or to prevent teams from accessing earlier flights that could disrupt filming.

## Superlegs

Main article: Superleg
Occasionally a deceptive pit-stop would appear on the race, and teams would be given another clue by The Doctor rather than ending the leg. This is known as a Superleg.

In most cases, before it is announced to the first team, a Superleg is evident if The Doctor is either at the Mat without a greeter, or says *"\_\_\_ & \_\_\_, you are the nth team to arrive...however..."* instead of *"\_\_\_ & \_\_\_, you are team number #"*, which he would otherwise only say when a team has done something wrong or are Marked for Elimination and didn't arrive 1st.