Paris Panthers led the group of eight teams that had qualified from last night’s quarter-finals, with the four leading teams - Rome Gladiators, Miami Celtics, Valkenswaard United and London Knights - making their first appearance at this stage.

The Panthers maintained their momentum as they fnished third on the night with their trio of Yuri Mansur, Gregory Wathelet and Darragh Kenny collecting only four penalty points in a competition where every rider’s score counted.

Top qualifiers were the Madrid in Motion team, the only ones not to incur any penalty points thanks to the skills of Marc Houtzager on  Sterrehof's Calimero, Maikel van der Vleuten on Verdi TN and Eduardo Alvarez Aznar riding Rokefeller de Pleville Bois Margc.

Second place went to the Scandinavian Vikings, represented by Leopold van Asten, Evelina Tovek and Christian Ahlmann.

London Knights, last to start, made two mistakes but still progressed in fifth place, accompanied by Valkenswaard United.

A total of eight penalty points was enough to earn the sixth and last place in the final for the Montreal Diamonds.

That meant two of the top four teams, Rome Gladiators and Miami Celtics, failed to qualify having each recorded 12 penalty points.

This is a new concept for the sport involving individual Global Champions Tour riders, who will be in solo action at the weekend, and GCL teams who have competed throughout the season for a place at the lucrative finale in the Czech Republic's capital city.

There is an unprecedented €12 million (£10.5 million/$13.5 million) in prize money on offer.

The GCT has served as a qualifying process for 16 individual riders to reach the "Super Grand Prix" event in Prague.

The 16 challengers, including Tour winner Ben Maher of Britain, are set to face two formidable 1.60 metre tracks on Sunday (December 15) night in the high-stakes showdown.