America's Cup challenger BMW Oracle Racing's skipper Chris Dickson (centre) steers the yacht next to Larry Ellison (R) and Gavin Brady after their race against Emirates Team New Zealand at the Luis Vuitton Cup in Valencia yesterday. - Reuters
VALENCIA, Spain, (Reuters):
BMW ORACLE bounced back from their first defeat to stamp their authority on the Luis Vuitton Cup with a victory over fellow favourites Team New Zealand yesterday.
The American team suffered their first setback in the round-robin stage being well-beaten by local favourites Desafio Espanol earlier in the day.
But they struck a psychological blow against one of their their nearest rivals, winning by 38 seconds, to remain top of the 11-team field at the end of the first set of round robins.
Day's best performer
BMW Oracle have 21 points with nine wins from 10 races, two points ahead of the day's best performer Luna Rossa, who pushed the Kiwis down to third on 18.
The Italian challengers Luna Rossa beat compatriots Mascalzone Latino and then brought Desafio Espanol's team back down to earth in their second race, to be the only team to earn four points from the day.
Team New Zealand had earlier recovered from a poor start to beat Swedish boat Victory Challenge.
Desafio Espanol are fourth on 17 points having received a huge morale boost with their victory over BMW Oracle in front of an enthusiastic holiday weekend home crowd.
"We proved we can compete with the big teams and it was a great performance to beat the only boat with a 100 per cent record," Desafio team head Agustin Zulueta told Spanish state television.
"We must keep our feet on the ground, but we demonstrated we can withstand the pressure of the big races."
Mascalzone Latino's second defeat of the day, to Victory Challenge, saw them lose ground on the top four as the Swedes joined them on 14 points in joint fifth place.
The South African challengers Shosholoza are seventh with 12 points.
The top four after the second set of round robins, which start on Sunday, go into the semi-finals.
The eventual LV Cup winners challenge Swiss defender Alinghi for the America's Cup.
