BRITISH TEAM LAND ROVER BAR VICTORIOUS IN THE AMERICA’S CUP WORLD SERIES

20 November 2016

Land Rover BAR win the final regatta in Japan to take the overall Louis Vuitton America’s Cup World Series title, putting them in a commanding position going into the America’s Cup Final next year in Bermuda.

  • Land Rover BAR take double victory in Fukuoka and the overall Louis Vuitton America’s Cup World Series
  • The British team have 2‑point advantage over rivals going into America’s Cup Qualifiers in Bermuda 2017
  • Land Rover BAR team aims to bring home the world’s oldest sporting trophy to Britain for the first time in its 165‑year history

Sunday 20th November 2016, Japan: Land Rover BAR win the final regatta in Japan to take the overall Louis Vuitton America’s Cup World Series title, putting them in a commanding position going into the America’s Cup Final next year in Bermuda.

Land Rover BAR fought hard for their victory and beat closest rivals and the current Defender, ORACLE TEAM USA in a dramatic and intense final race this weekend in Fukuoka, Japan.

Saturday’s strong sailing meant that the team headed into the final day in a commanding position. After a long and tense first race on Super Sunday, Land Rover BAR fought hard against Oracle Team USA as they sailed a very aggressive race showing Land Rover BAR no mercy and leaving the regatta wide open. The team kept supporters on their toes as they broke the line early in race two, with Emirates Team New Zealand and Oracle Team USA clear leaders at the start gun. A stunning recovery on the first lap saw them back into the pack, and with an incredible final leg pass of the Americans, Land Rover BAR sealed the World Series win. Securing third place in the final race meant the full champagne moment for Ben Ainslie and crew winning the Fukuoka regatta and the Louis Vuitton America’s Cup World Series.

Land Rover BAR will enter the America’s Cup Qualifiers, two points clear, giving them an early advantage for the first set of round‑robin races starting on 26 May.

It was an amazing day for the team because our core goal was to win the overall series, that is what we came here to do. To achieve that and come out on top in the final event to get four regatta wins in the overall series, that is a huge achievement from a completely new team.

Two and a half years ago we had absolutely nothing, so what we have achieved in building the team, the infrastructure, and this performance in the World Series is something we should all be incredibly proud of ‑ but at the same time it’s just one step in our journey to the America’s Cup. Our objective was to get the two bonus points and we’ve got that, and now the focus is clearly on the race boat and the performance next summer in Bermuda.

I am absolutely delighted by how things have gone, but at the same time I know our team and how focused they are on the America’s Cup. We will be straight into training in Bermuda and getting best prepared for the America’s Cup to try and bring it home after a 167 years of hurt.

Ben Ainslie
Team Principal and Skipper

It’s a fantastic result for the team and we are very proud to have been with them on this journey so far – taking this World Series win is such a huge achievement.

The next steps are still to come as the design team and our Land Rover engineers finalise the race boat codenamed R1 which will be launched early next year. It’s an extremely exciting and intense project and the countdown is now on for us to make our boat a winner in Bermuda.

Mark Cameron
Land Rover Experiential Marketing Director

The 35th Louis Vuitton America’s Cup, hosted in Bermuda, starts on Friday 26 May and continues until the final starting on Saturday 17 June.

Japan America’s Cup World Series weekend results:

  • Land Rover BAR ‑ 75
  • Artemis Racing ‑ 75
  • ORACLE TEAM USA ‑ 70
  • Emirates Team New Zealand ‑ 65
  • SoftBank Team Japan ‑ 61
  • Groupama Team France ‑ 59

Overall leader board results:

  • Land Rover BAR ‑ 512
  • ORACLE TEAM USA ‑ 493
  • Emirates Team New Zealand ‑ 485
  • Artemis Racing ‑ 466
  • SoftBank Team Japan ‑ 460
  • Groupama Team France ‑ 419

ENDS

Further information

For further information log onto www.media.landrover.com or contact:

Lydia Haley

Senior Press Officer

+44 2476 564 147 / +44 7730 923 507

lhaley1@jaguarlandrover.com

Notes to Editors

Jaguar Land Rover 2016

Jaguar Land Rover is the UK's largest automotive manufacturer, built around two iconic British car brands:  Land Rover, the world’s leading manufacturer of premium all‑wheel‑drive vehicles; and Jaguar, one of the world’s premier luxury sports saloon and sports car marques. 

The company employs almost 38,000 people globally and supports around 275,000 more through our dealerships, suppliers and local businesses. Manufacturing is centred in the UK, with additional plants in China, Brazil and India.

At Jaguar Land Rover we are driven by a desire to create class‑leading products that deliver great customer experiences.  The largest investor in R&D in the UK manufacturing sector, we have invested £12 billion in the last five years and in the current year alone will spend over £3 billion on new product creation and capital expenditure. Last year Jaguar Land Rover sold 487,065 vehicles in 160 countries, with more than 80% of our vehicles produced in the UK being sold abroad.

Land Rover is ‘Title Partner’ and ‘Exclusive Innovation Partner’ of Ben Ainslie Racing (BAR). Land Rover is applying its expertise in advanced engineering, cutting edge design and innovative technological solutions to Land Rover BAR in its attempt to win the America’s Cup.

About Land Rover BAR

Sarah Alexander, Land Rover BAR Press Officer

Sarah.alexander@landroverbar.com t. +44 7766 391 276 / +44 1489 587 838

Ben Ainslie Racing (BAR) was launched on June 10th 2014 in the presence of Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cambridge. The team was conceived by four times Olympic gold medalist and 34th America's Cup winner, Sir Ben Ainslie, with the long‑term aim of challenging for Britain and bringing the America's Cup back home to where it all began in 1851. Ben has developed and will lead a British entry capable of winning the prestigious trophy, something Britain has so far never managed to achieve.

Land Rover BAR is a commercial sporting team, with a number of individual private investors alongside corporate partners. The team is made up of some of the best British and international sailors, designers, builders and racing support.

Sports teams represent key role models in society. This privileged position is not taken for granted at Land Rover BAR. The team believe our influence should extend far beyond the race course, and have put sustainability at the heart of operations since launching the team with Exclusive Sustainability Partner 11th Hour Racing in 2014.

The team have built a new headquarters in the centre of Portsmouth, the 74,000 sq ft. building houses all the team's activities, and will welcome the public into its Tech Deck education centre.

The 1851 Trust is the team's official charity, and HRH The Duchess of Cambridge is its Royal Patron.

Portsmouth will host a second Louis Vuitton America's Cup World Series event on 21st‑24th July 2016. Almost a quarter of a million spectators enjoyed the action in Portsmouth in 2015, with 25,000 of them taking to the water ‑ more are expected to come back in 2016 to watch the racing and cheer for the home team.

LandRoverBAR.com #BringTheCupHome