Wednesday, May 16, 2007

Italians "Luna Rossa" take 2-1 Lead in Race 3 in America Cup semifinals over USA BMW-Oracle

The ANNOTICO Report

"Luna Rossa" won the first race. USA BMW-Oracle evened the score in the 2nd race, BUT Italy's "Luna Rossa" captured the 3rd race, in a best of nine series.

Once again we are tempted with hope.......... USA BMW  Oracle is the Favorite .

Italians take Race 3 for lead in Challenger semifinals

Valencia, Spain (Sports Network) - Luna Rossa of Italy beat BMW Oracle of the United States in Race 3 of the Challenger semifinals at the America's Cup to grab a 2-1 edge in the best-of-nine series.

The Italians grabbed the lead on the first leg of the day and held it the rest of the way, finishing 31 seconds in front. If not for a remarkable comeback by BMW Oracle on Tuesday, Luna Rossa would have total command of this series.

Instead, the American boat will go into Thursday's rest day just one win away from again squaring the series.

Desafio Espanol of Spain stunned Emirates Team New Zealand to win for the first time in the other Challenger semifinal series. The Kiwis still lead that best-of-nine set, 2-1.

The winners of the two semifinals will square off in the Challenger finals from June 1-11 for the right to take on defending America's Cup champion Alinghi, from Switzerland, in a best-of-nine championship set starting June 23.

On Tuesday, BMW Oracle trailed for the first three legs before taking its first lead on the final leg and holding on to win by a mere 13 seconds. There was no such comeback on Wednesday.

The boats hit the start line at virtually the same time, with the Americans owning a slim one-second lead, but the Italians found the wind on the right side of the course on the first windward leg and built a 29-second advantage.

BMW Oracle has struggled on the upwind legs throughout the series and did so again on Wednesday. The American boat managed only to trim five seconds off its deficit on the downwind leg, but Luna Rossa again had a dominant upwind leg and increased its lead to 45 seconds heading for home.

Trailing by only 14 seconds on Tuesday, the American boat was able to make up the difference. The larger deficit Wednesday was just too much to overcome.

Team New Zealand had dominated the other semifinal, leading at every turn through the first two races. The Spaniards, though, gained the early advantage on Wednesday.

The Kiwis opened leads of 63 and 75 seconds after the first leg of the previous two races, but on Wednesday found themselves trailing by 14 seconds around the first turn. They managed to cut six seconds off the deficit on the first downwind leg, but the Spaniards then made a big move.

Heading to the right side of the course, Desafio Espanol gained the breeze and increased their lead to 44 seconds heading around the turn for the final time. The Kiwis never recovered as the Spaniards cruised to a victory by one minute, 14 seconds.

Racing for both semifinals will resume on Friday off the coast of Spain.

http://www.sportsnetwork.com/default.asp?c=

sportsnetwork&page=other/news/AON4078979.htm

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