Maybe this is where we see the so called speed-bump? maybe its an extra detour option, a faster one that only one team can take?
Well, I was speculating that he Speed bump was a replacement for the Fast Forward and that it was gone just like the Yield.
And if so, then they can really make it anything the want. And depending on how well they planned this leg and the next the speedbump reward might be anything.
1. Skip just a portion of the episode (like a roadblock or detour)
2. Skip both roadblock and detour and have the reward not be go to the next Pit Stop, but go to the mat.
Now if it was a TBC leg, you might ask, wouldn't that give that team a huge advantage in getting to the next destination before others?
Well yes and no.
On all the TBC legs (both regular and family edition) there has been a substanual bunching period before either the next task or the next way to travel out of the area.
1. Season 6 (when it was planned as normal non elimination, until they realized begging was illegal) had a 12 hour break between clue to keep going (on computers where most teams already had between 1-3 hours to bunch up before they could even get that clue) and hours of operation.
2. Season 7 had a 8-6 hour bunch before teams departing on train. Then a 24 hour train ride, get to location and hit a 12 hour hours of operation bunch.
3. Season 8 features the shortest bunch it was 8-10 hours hours of operation bunch.
4. Season 9 had what should have been an 10-12 hour bunch between the plained flight out of Russia to Germany and then the hours of operation of the test drive. But it was the only bunching point that didn't fully work for one reason. While its true that Eric & Jeremy managed a flight early enough that they beat the producers (doesn't happen often), they still would have been bunched at the hours of operation. But the computer failure in Russia prevented most racers in getting out in time. This gave the 3 teams that did manage to get out a 3 hour head start (though only a few things would have changed with placement due to the time it took teams to complete all tasks after arriving (the biggest Fran & Barry would have finished 2nd). It also had the unforunate effect (though if teams wouldn't have had serious navigation problems or managing to get the wrong flights, it wouldn't have been an issue) of causing the planned bunching points of the next two legs to only catch some of the teams.
5. Season 10 had a twelve hour bunch before flights out to Kiev.
So a reward that just sent a team to the mat could still easily allow teams to all still be bunch for the 2nd half of the leg.
Hell even without large amounts of bunching, depending on the type of Fast FOrward teams could still be very close together.
I do hope it is a tattoo though. After all, for most teams this is a once in a life time experience. One that they should cherish. And a tattoo would be a nice physical reminder.