America's Cup World Series 2015 Results: Updated Standings from Portsmouth Event

The qualification process for the 35th America's Cup started on Saturday with the first event of the 2015 America's Cup World Series in Portsmouth, England, and local favourites Land Rover BAR got off to an excellent start, leading the points table after two races.

Sir Ben Ainslie and his team won the first race ahead of defending champions Oracle Team USA before placing second in the other race of the day, which was won by Emirates Team New Zealand.

As shared by the World Series' official Twitter account, the points will be doubled for Sunday's races, so nothing has been decided yet:

"

Scoring rules for the Louis Vuitton America’s Cup World Series. Double points Sunday!! #LVACWS #ACWSPortsmouth pic.twitter.com/OZ21EUofVu

— America's Cup (@americascup) July 25, 2015"

Land Rover BAR remain the favourites to win the event after their excellent start. Here are the results from Saturday's action:

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Race 1 RESULTS 1 @LandRoverBAR 2 @OracleTeamUSA 3 @EmiratesTeamNZ 4 @SoftBankTeamJPN 5 @ArtemisRacing 6 @GroupamaTeamFr #AmericasCup

— America's Cup (@americascup) July 25, 2015"

Race 2, courtesy of Cup Info:

Team	Points
Land Rover BAR	19
Emirates Team NZ	18
Oracle Team USA	15
Soft Bank Team Japan	13
Groupama Team France	13
Artemis Racing	11

Defending champions Team Oracle USA had an excellent start to the first race, but heading to Gate 2, they had already been overtaken by Emirates Team New Zealand, who made a strong impression throughout the day.

Land Rover BAR continued to move to the front and took the lead just after Gate 3, quickly building a 16-second gap. The Brits managed to stay ahead of the pack despite a late push from Team Oracle, who raced into second place and finished 10 seconds behind the point leaders.

Via Bremont Timing AC, Oracle Team USA were given a penalty to start the second race, and they never really managed to climb back to the front of the pack. The New Zealanders led for most of the second race on the way to victory ahead of Groupama Team France, who were passed by Land Rover BAR at the last moment.

As shared by Ruth Scammell of The News, that meant the Brits took the lead after Saturday's races:

Speaking to reporters, Ainslie told reporters how happy he was to bring this event back to Portsmouth after an absence of over 150 years, via BBC Radio Solent's Neil Sackley:

He was a member of the Oracle team that completed a sensational comeback to win the America's Cup two years ago, and now Ainslie is on a mission to bring the trophy to Britain for the first time in its history.

Oracle Team USA remain the favourites to win the Cup in 2017, but Emirates Team New Zealand once again stole the show on Saturday. The Kiwi's, who shockingly lost the 2013 America's Cup 9-8 to Team Oracle after leading 8-1, have redemption on their minds, and their craft certainly looked the fastest out on the water on Saturday.

Peter Burling joined the team last year and impressed on his America's Cup World Series debut, indicating that, once again, opponents will have to keep an eye on Emirates Team New Zealand.

Fans in Portsmouth will be treated to two more races on Sunday.