Haha, guess I need to do a little explanation of that table!
This table, which sets up the schedule for both the crew and the teams, allows us to predict the existence of extra legs (for example, the second leg in Shanghai this season), or the location of these legs (for example, that an extra leg in TAR 15 - Cai Be - was geographically close to Ho Chi Minh City).
The dates in the table represent the day on which most tasks take place. For Phil, this is the day he films his stand-ups. For the teams, this is the day they do the bulk of their racing. For example, if teams arrive in Puerto Varas on the night of the 29th but the majority of the challenges take place on the 30th, the table will indicate the 30th.
The schedule of the recent races (I started paying attention in TAR 14) follows a general pattern. Phil arrives one day before the teams, spends the next day checking in the teams, and sets up the next leg on the third day while teams are held back by extended Pit Stops, by transportation schedules or by hours of operation. An example in table form:
Leg |
Phil |
Teams |
Comments |
Leg 4 |
1 Jan |
2 Jan |
- |
Leg 5 |
3 Jan |
4 Jan |
- |
Leg 6 |
5 Jan |
6 Jan |
- |
There are several notable exceptions. The first type is what I call short legs. This is when Phil films his stand-ups on the same day the racers are doing the challenges.
TAR 14: Stechelberg to Salzburg, Phuket to Bangkok, Beijing to Beijing
TAR 15: Cai Be to Ho Chi Minh City, Dubai to Dubai, Prague to Prague
I don't dare to present a rationale, but these one thing these legs have in common is the short travel distance. And as TheSchnauzers says, they are often temporally short as well, since flights are often not involved. In TAR 16, this comes in the form of Puerto Varas to Bariloche, Hamburg to France or France to France, and Shanghai to Shanghai. In fact, the legs on which Phil films his stand-ups the same day as the teams are racing are always the shortest legs, distance-wise, in their respective seasons. Short legs, at least since TAR 14, have never been back to back. In table form:
Leg |
Phil |
Teams |
Comments |
Leg 7 |
7 Jan |
7 Jan |
Short leg |
Leg 8 |
8 Jan |
9 Jan |
- |
The second group of exceptions, on contrast, involves long travel legs. Sometimes Phil spends so much time travelling to the next destination he doesn't have enough daylight to work with, and so the entire schedule is pushed back. These legs often involve long multi-leg flights.
TAR 14: Bran to Krasnoyarsk, Novosibirsk to Jaipur
TAR 15: None, since they stuck to major cities with good airport hubs
TAR 16: Bariloche to Hamburg, France to Seychelles, Seychelles to Penang
Leg |
Phil |
Teams |
Comments |
Leg 9 |
10 Jan |
11 Jan |
- |
Leg 10 |
13 Jan |
14 Jan |
Long leg |
Here, Phil flies to his destination on the 12th, while teams travel on the 13th.
The third type of exception involves the premiere and finale legs. Premieres, if flight schedules allow, often involve an overnight rest on the first day, giving Phil some wiggle room to film his stand-ups. For example, the TAR 14 premiere had teams travel to Locarno for an overnight while Phil heads directly to Interlaken for his narration, and the TAR 15 premiere had teams stay over in the magical Green Room, giving Phil some time for filming in Tokyo. This doesn't always apply, especially if the first leg takes place in South America. TAR 9 and TAR 16, in particular, had flight schedules with morning arrivals, meaning Phil has had to hustle to get his filming done. Finales are often single-day affairs. I suppose Phil has all the times to film his stand-ups after wrapping up the race formalities.
Leg |
Phil |
Teams |
Comments |
Leg 11 |
15 Jan |
16 Jan |
- |
Leg 12 |
17 Jan |
17 Jan |
Final leg |
After all that... Piecing together the dates Phil and teams are sighted along the racecourse allows us to fill in the table, allowing us to figure out where the gaps are and how long production has available for legs. Confusing, but it's worked pretty well so far!