Can you Predict Race Across the World Series 5? - The Blog

Race Across the World returns to BBC One this Wednesday - and so does the World Race fan prediction game, to see if you can guess which team will win each leg!

Once again the game is simple - before each episode starts make your prediction for the team you think will get to the checkpoint first. Get 3 points if they win, 1 point should they come second.

And while you're there place an episode token on which team you think might win the series. Do you back your favourite team for a big points total if they win? Or spread your tokens around to try and at least get something? It's up to you, but beware, it's far harder than it sounds!

And it's especially hard week one, as we haven't even seen the teams in action yet - so all you have to go on is the pictures below and the interview write ups! So scroll on down and when you're finished don't forget to place your prediction before 9pm on Wednesday when the show starts!

Meet the teams

Sisters - Elizabeth & Letitia

BBC/Studio Lambert

Elizabeth, 33, and Letitia, 26 both have plenty of travel experience, but not together. With a strong sisterly bond, they both agree they see life differently - Elizabeth taking a more extroverted “free-flow” view, Letitia a more logical and planned approach.

They describe their strategy for the race as:

Elizabeth: I think what I would love for our trip is to get the balance of both of us, because we're pretty different. I think working together and trying not to spend too much money.

Letitia: I think also to have fun, have an experience to see as much as possible. We will focus on the race but I'd like there to be enjoyment too.

They also seem to have some solid plans for the budget:

Elizabeth: I think it's good to save but on the last two legs, it's when money just needs to be spent on the essentials - spending it to go as fast as possible.

They describe their biggest challenges as getting decent rest and missing TV, and spending so much time together. Their secret strength might be that Letitia knows (a little) chinese!

Former Married Couple - Gaz & Yin

BBC/Studio Lambert

Gaz & Yin have the most head turning relationship we’ve seen on the show - formerly married, but still best mates. I’m not sure many divorced couples would want to take on the forced close-quarters and stress of the race, but it seems they’ve been living together supporting Yin after the death of her new partner so maybe this team's relationship is a lot stronger than it looks at first glance.

Their strategy is pretty simple:

Yin: Our main strategy is to stay to the end and do the whole experience.

Gaz: We’ve set ourselves mini goals, in the sense that we know someone gets eliminated in one of the legs, so if we can get through that bit, that's a win. And then if we can get to the end, that's another win. And as much as we do think there's a strategy, I think because anything can happen...

Yin: I think Lady Luck plays a part, whether your strategy works or not.

Gaz: I think I'm very good at spending money, and Yin’s very good at saving money, so from that point of view, there is a slight strategy as we’ll be quite cautious in what Yin will let me spend.

They describe their dynamic as one where Gaz will “rush in at 100 miles an hour” and get things wrong, while Yin will take a step back and make a plan. They hope they’ll complement each other, with Yin reigning Gaz back, and Gaz pushing Yin to stop cautious dilly dallying.

Brothers - Brian & Melvyn

BBC/Studio Lambert

Brian 62 and Melvyn 65, are brothers who say they’ve not spent much time together since childhood, and seem to lead rather different lifestyles - Brian staying in nice hotels with first class travel, Melvyn preferring cheap seats and the pub. But both seem to share a similar sense of humor and have a clear strategy as well as the essential supplies:

Brian: The strategy is that we don't want to be kicked out first, because my children wouldn't let me live it down.

Melvyn: The other worry from our families at home is that we shouldn't embarrass them. So we're going to go all out to embarrass them.

Brian: A couple of things that we're taking with us are a white board and some coloured pens. We have got a calculator because we think a calculator is needed, a little mini one. A compass because neither of us have any sense of direction. Neither of us own a watch, so we bought one because we thought we'd need to know the time.

Melvyn: Also a magnifying glass, because my eyes are not very good at the minute.

They describe their biggest challenges as their complete lack of language skills and sense of direction, and the fact they’ve never spent this much time together. Or in fact this much time apart from their wives. Although it’s not clear if that concern is mutual.

Melvyn: My wife is glad to get rid of me for a bit. Although she did shed a tear when I left.

Brian: It was a tear of happiness, Melvyn.

I suspect this team's secret strength might be dad jokes. Although how well will they translate to mandarin?

Couple - Fin & Sioned

BBC/Studio Lambert

Fin 18 & Sioned 19 are from Carmarthen, keen to swap small-town Wales for a trip across the wider world. They seem to be keen to challenge the bonds of their relationship as to take on the challenge of the race itself, but also eager to see the sights and try new foods and experiences. They’ve got a very ‘roll with it’ strategy, although Sioned also seems to have come up with a great idea for communication:

Sioned: It's hard to have a strategy when you don’t know what's ahead. It's hard to plan. Deal with what comes our way when it comes our way.

Fin: We do want to win but more just see how it goes, see what we see and experience new things.

Sioned: I’ve got travel cards that have pictures of transport on them, because we’ve seen on previous series, other parts of the world, being able to communicate is hard, especially where we are.

They claim to not have many skills, but I think their biggest strength might be their partnership and fitness. They went on several hikes together to prepare before the show - and while young they’ve spent a lot more time together than several of the other teams. Their biggest challenge however might be to not get distracted from getting to the checkpoints:

Sioned: I want to say we're in it to win it because we are, but we're not going to let that stop us from enjoying the whole experience of it.

Mother & Son - Caroline & Tom

BBC/Studio Lambert

Caroline 60 and Tom 21, describe themselves as an unlikely travel duo - Caroline says she’s never done anything outside her comfort zone or arranged any travel, while Tom loves traveling and has been interrailing around Europe and spent six months backpacking in South America. As family they should know each other well, but how well Caroline will take to Tom leading her in travel, and how well Tom will cope with his Mum traveling with him will be the question for this team.

Their strategy is fluid in approach but also maybe more concerned with sightseeing than racing:

Tom: We still don’t know exactly where we're going, or how things work in the country we're in. I think our strategy will depend on how we do in the first leg and it will adapt as we go along.

Caroline: We know we are going to struggle with the budget because Thomas needs to eat a lot - a huge amount! So to make up for that we were thinking, perhaps we could ask for favours with people, or work extra hard, or offer to do something in return for an apple at the side of the road.

We’ll always keep an eye on the race but while we can, we're going to make the best of every opportunity. It’ll make it more exciting as we’ll have to race harder as we're not putting the race at the forefront. We're also hoping to take overnight accommodation whilst travelling so save on accommodation.

Caroline also mentions doing hikes to prepare for the race saying she can be quite determined, and is prepared to sleep in bus stations to save money. Tom is described as more easy going, but also seems keen to win:

Tom: There is an element of wanting to win the race. That would be an amazing feeling. To get to the last checkpoint and see the book empty. That would probably be one of the best feelings you’ll ever have.

Time to predict!

So who do you think will manage it best? Will the bonds of family do better than the couples (or former couple?) Will the fitness of youth outperform the experience of age? Will a team lose their map in the first episode? We don't know, but its fun to try and guess! Lock in your predictions before the show airs on Wednesday.