Australian skipper Jimmy Spithill's Team USA have powered to victory over Japan to maintain their lead in the America's Cup qualification series.
Team New Zealand beat Britain's BAR on Thursday to firm as the most likely No.1 the challenger to three-time defending champions USA after five days of racing.
In lights winds in Bermuda, USA crossed the finish line 32 seconds ahead of Team Japan despite conceding a penalty at the start of the race.
The two catamarans were evenly matched for speed on their foils, but a good call by USA's Australian tactician Tom Slingsby allowed them to overhaul their opponents and keep them on top of the leaderboard.
The Kiwis benefited from their British opponents botching a key manoeuvre in the second leg.
BAR skipper Ben Ainslie retired from the race midway up the penultimate leg, with his team more than six minutes behind.
New Zealand's sixth win from seven races leaves the other challengers with little hope of heading them off for top spot going into the semi-finals.
BAR remain the most likely team to do so after bouncing back to beat Team France.
Despite having won only three of eight races, Ainslie's boat is a point behind Team NZ because of the two-point pre-regatta bonus earned by winning the world series.
The winners of the qualifying series will carry a point into the regatta finale, the Cup Match, if they get that far.
Team France (2-6) shape as the most likely of the five challengers to be eliminated ahead of the semi-finals, having suffered losses to Team Japan (3-4) and BAR on Thursday.
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