Great Britain's Men Strengthen Star Lead As Swedes Come Into Focus

Olympic champions Iain Percy and Andrew Simpson (GBR) take a nine-point overall lead into Friday’s racing with just two more races plus the Medal Race on Sunday remaining.

Percy and Simpson are on 13 points, nine points clear of Robert Scheidt and Bruno Prada (BRA), who made life difficult for themselves by sailing into third place in the first race and fifth in the later race.

Both will be watching Fredrik Loof and Max Salminen (SWE) carefully. The Swedes put themselves into gold medal contention after finishing fourth in the first race on Thursday and then dominating the second to win by a minute.

The Great Britain pair will again try to demonstrate the splendid upwind speed executed on Thursday, matching the impressive downwind speed they have enjoyed all week.

Scheidt and Prada had two terrible starts on Thursday that dumped them into 15th place at the first mark in race seven and 10th in race eight, but they managed to work their way through the fleet to challenge each time. The way the Beijing 2008 silver medallists have been overcoming adversity underlines the fact they remain one of the favourites.

Top Five
1. Iain Percy and Andrew Simpson (GBR) – 13pts
2. Robert Scheidt and Bruno Prada (BRA) – 22pts
3. Fredrik Loof and Max Salminen (SWE) – 22pts
4. Mateusz Kusznierewicz and Dominik Zycki (POL) – 40pts
5. Eivind Melleby and Petter Morland Pedersen (NOR) – 41pts

The Stars resume racing at 12:10 on 3 August as the competition reaches the business end.

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